Single wagon load

Why choose single wagon load transportation?

You choose single wagon load transportation when you want to dispatch one or several wagons at the time to a specific destination, but do not have enough quantity to fill a
full train.

How does it work?

Logistically the SWL system is comparable with a “hub and spoke system” (a system where all goods are brought into a central point – the hub – for sorting and are distributed out from the centre in all directions). It is a network system which consists of customer sidings, stations and marshalling yards:
 

  • If you have a site with railway tracks, we will send a feeder service* to collect the wagons (and give you empty wagons to fill). These are then hauled or pulled to a marshalling yard (assembly point for the goods to compromise a wagon load).
     
  • If you don’t have direct railway track access, we can help you transport the goods to a rail port by truck where the goods are loaded onto a railway wagon and then brought to the marshalling yard.
     
  • In the marshalling yard further wagons (from other customers) are added and the train is built up for departure to the next hub / marshalling yard in the network.
     
  • All departures within the network are scheduled and depart at predefined times.
     
  • The wagons are transported from one hub/ marshalling yard to another and wagons are added and taken away at each stop.
     
  • Once the wagon has reached the hub nearest to its destination, it is taken off the train and is transported either by truck or by track to the final destination.

 

Single Wagon Load is a very flexible system which gives you full adaptability in terms of dispatch volatility. Basically you can choose how many wagons you want to dispatch. From one day to another the quantity of dispatched wagons can vary. You can decide when to load the wagons, which is a major benefit to the trucks which very often use a time slot loading system with penalties if they cannot dock at the right time. As the routes are fixed in advance, you can add wagons to a train when you need to.

SNCB Logistics, member of Xrail

Xrail is an alliance of 7 railway undertakings (CD Cargo (Czech Republic), CFL cargo (Luxembourg), DB Schenker Rail (Germany, Netherlands, Denmark), Green Cargo (Sweden, Norway), Rail Cargo Austria (Austria, Hungary), SBB Cargo (Switzerland) and SNCB Logistics (Belgium) that aims to increase the competitiveness of wagonload traffic in Europe significantly, thus helping take traffic off the roads and protect the environment. Xrail’s goal is to render international wagonload traffic by rail more customer friendly and efficient. The alliance intends to boost the quality and competitiveness of European wagonload transport vis-à-vis road haulage.

 

The Xrail cross-border production standard benefits wagonload customers in three areas: reliability (at least 90 per cent in international wagonload traffic on the Xrail network), transparency (international timetables from customer siding to customer siding, active information systems) and offering process (standard response time of three days maximum).

 

Xrail links the major economic areas in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden and Switzerland. It builds upon the existing infrastructure, the European Union’s TEN-T corridors (Trans European Transport Network). Xrail intends to expand its network in stages, the long-term goal being to encompass the entire European wagonload traffic network. Fixed costs make up circa 90 per cent of the cost of wagonload traffic; therefore the partners in the alliance are taking every effort to make optimum use of their respective networks in order to ensure the further development of wagonload traffic. This is good news for the environment too: the environmental performance of rail freight transport is considerably better than that of road haulage, especially over long distances.

More details

With an annual freight volume of around 100 billion tkm, Single Wagon Load (SWL) accounts for approximately 50% of Europe’s total rail market (Source: Xrail).
SWL transports are a crucial supply chain element for Europe’s predominantly midsized and geographically dispersed industry and agriculture.

 

* A feeder service is a locomotive which fetches the full wagons to be added to the train and brings empty ones to be filled.

Credits: UIC

 

 

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