Parcel InterCity

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Exit of the fast night jump freight train known as "Parcel Intercity" to Berlin from the premises of the DHL logistics center in Unna (Westphalia), February 2016

The Parcel InterCity ( PIC ) was designed as a special freight train by Railion (now DB Cargo ) and Danzas (now DHL ). It has been running regularly between important parcel centers in Germany since 2000 (hence the name) and is one of the fastest freight trains in Germany. It should not be confused with the night-time ExpressIC trains, also known as Post InterCity , which were manned by Post employees and ran in Germany from 1980 to 1997.

The PIC connects the parcel centers at night , i.e. H. with very late departure times (around 9 p.m.) and very early arrival times (around 4 a.m.). To ensure this, the PIC is ordered from DB Netz as a so-called freight transport express route (costs +65%) so that it has priority over practically all other trains. In addition, modern locomotives of the class 182 from DB Cargo or class 101 from DB Fernverkehr and cars approved for higher speeds that allowed a journey of up to 160 km / h were used at the beginning .

The trains initially drove at 140 km / h under conventional signaling or 160 km / h under regular train control . It was 40 km / h above the typical maximum freight train speed of 100 or 120 km / h. However, since the capacity of a railway line is higher the closer the train speeds are to each other, the fast night freight trains resulted in a disproportionate consumption of capacity. In the meantime they no longer operate as a separate train type and their maximum speed has been increased to 120 km / h (east-west axis & wing train south-west Kornwestheim – Würzburg as train type KT) or 140 km / h and as train type EX on the north-south -Axis. One of the reasons for this is that DB Cargo no longer has suitable locomotives. The 25 locomotives of the class 182 were handed over to DB Regio in Berlin and Dresden and therefore no longer used in freight transport by DB. In addition, the power consumption in relation to the travel time was too high. In Germany there were only four freight wagon fleets with EP brakes approved for 160 km / h, the maintenance of which was also more complex and costly (disc brakes, etc.). However, they still transport parcels between the parcel centers (as of December 2016) on the east-west axis Unna - Bönen - Hamm (Westphalia) - Berlin & on the north-south axis Hamburg-Billwerder - Munich-Riem.

business

Due to the delivery of class 182 locomotives from DB Cargo to DB Regio and the lack of locomotives that are faster than 140 km / h since then, the first maximum speed of PIC trains is currently (as of October 2012) of 160 km / h reduced to 140 km / h. Further reasons for this reduction are the lower demands on the braking technology of the wagons used (and thus increased flexibility in the use of wagons) as well as the much easier "swimming" in the structure of the consistently slower nightly freight trains.

For the relation on the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed railway two shuttle trains from Kornwestheim respectively (departure 21:09) and Munich-Riem (departure 20:15) in Würzburg Hbf coupled together and with double traction of Class 152 to Hamburg-Billwerder transported (Arrival 4:10 a.m.). In the opposite direction, the train runs from Hamburg-Billwerder (departure 20:28) to Würzburg Hbf and is split there. The front part of the train goes to Munich-Riem (arrival 4:25 a.m.), the rear part to Kornwestheim (arrival 3:17 a.m.).

A second pair of PIC trains operates on the Unna - Berlin Westhafen route . In the west-east direction, the train leaves the KLV terminal Unna-Königsborn at 8:30 p.m. Another group of wagons is coupled in Hamm Rbf and the traction is switched from diesel to a class 145 electric locomotive . This transports the train via Hanover to Wustermark Rbf , where the train is converted to diesel traction. Two diesel locomotives then take the train to Berlin (arrival 2:59 a.m.). In the opposite direction, the procedure is reversed. The train leaves Berlin at 8:48 p.m. and arrives in Unna at 2:46 a.m.

Since the introduction of new train types for the winter timetable change in 2011, the name PIC is no longer officially used. The trains now run as KT (combined train between terminals) or EX (express route, 50000/50001) and have train numbers between 50000 and 50019.

In deviation from § 40 (2) EBO , which stipulates a maximum speed of 120 km / h for freight trains in Germany, an exception permit dated June 2, 2003 allows the DB freight transport division to operate freight wagons at speeds of more than 120 km / h .

history

Classic rail mail in the 1970s and 1980s consisted on the one hand of individual mail wagons that were carried in normal passenger trains, but on the other hand also of different types of train such as express express train (ExprE), express express train (ExprD) and the 1980 Introduced top product Express-IC (ExprIC, colloquially sometimes also called Post-Intercity), which were used solely for mail and possibly express freight traffic. There were special rail mail cars in which mainly letters, but also parcels, were sorted during the journey. The ExprIC trains consisted only of cars that were approved for 200 km / h; the other categories could carry conventional boxcars for 120 km / h in addition to the rail mail wagons, in which there were only parcels and no employees. In the immediate vicinity of many main train stations there were Bundespost facilities in which the mail was sorted and from which the mail trains were loaded and unloaded; the system had grown over time and was designed to allow the use of long-distance passenger trains.

Until 1991, the maximum speed for freight trains was 120 km / h. With the commissioning of the ICE and two important new lines in June 1991 , the Deutsche Bundesbahn set up for the first time 160 km / h fast freight trains for general cargo and combined transport with specially upgraded wagons between Hamburg and Munich and between Bremen and Stuttgart. This offer ( InterCargoExpress ), which was basically aimed at all shippers, was discontinued in 1995 for economic reasons.

In the 1990s, the volume of mail transported by rail fell steadily. There were several reasons for this: on the one hand, the separation of mail and parcel services and, from 1994 to 1998, the concentration of mail traffic on 83 mail centers and parcel traffic on 33 freight mail centers .

On the other hand (according to the Deutsche Post) the lack of fast timetable routes for the night jump made mail transport by rail unattractive. Therefore, on May 31, 1997, the classic rail mail service was discontinued. The remaining mail transports by rail (in freight wagons) made up just ten percent (800 t) of the total volume of 8,000 t of parcels per night in Germany in 1999 (but up to 50% on weekends). (For comparison: a single freight train typically already has a mass of over 800 t.)

After lengthy negotiations, the then DB Cargo and Danzas Euronet signed a contract on July 15, 1999 to set up new express mail trains. Corresponding connections were made on January 11, 2000 between Hamburg and Munich via Würzburg, with wing trains in Würzburg to Kornwestheim and Nuremberg . The daily 16 trains were formed by locomotives of the 101 series and fast freight wagons (class Sgss 703 ). Loaded ISO containers and swap bodies . 30 percent of the parking space was used for rail mail, the rest was offered to other customers.

On January 30, 2000, eleven PIC trains were initially set up as part of a three-month pilot project, four of which were on-demand trains. This means that 13 of the Swiss Post's 33 freight centers were connected to the PIC network. In a time window between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., a total of 120 loading units were transported, 40 of which were for freight mail and 80 units were freely available. The distribution in the area was done by truck. The contract for the implementation of the PIC traffic provided for an assured punctuality of at least 94 percent; If the rate was below 90 percent, Deutsche Post was given the option of termination without notice. If the pilot project is successful, the north-south network (2,194 route kilometers) should be expanded to an east-west network totaling 7,700 km. In the first few months of operation, the punctuality was 96.5 percent. The Swiss Post's occupancy rate was 80 percent.

The construction of the PIC timetables required extensive adjustments to the running positions of other freight trains. After initial timetable studies had shown unacceptable increases in transport times of more than 45 minutes for other freight trains, the trains on the new Hanover – Kassel section were routed on the opposite track with overhauls of conventional freight trains.

From November 2000 an additional pair of trains was ordered between northern Germany and Stuttgart-Kornwestheim. At the beginning of 2001, the construction of a PIC line between Berlin and the Ruhr area was planned for spring 2001. The utilization of the PIC pilot line between Hamburg and Munich had risen from 24 to 80 containers a day by the beginning of 2001. Customers included, in addition to the post, Otto-Versand , the Danzas subsidiary Eurocargo and Ikea .

From June 11, 2001, the range was expanded to a total of 16 PIC trains. The Berlin - Ruhr area and Munich - Berlin routes have been added. It was the first time that east-west, east-south and south-west traffic was offered. 6-axle container wagons of the Sdggmrs 739 series are used as rolling stock on these connections. These are approved for a speed of 140 km / h. The new locomotives from the DB Cargo fleet are used as locomotives.

The east-west service between Berlin and Cologne, which was created at the end of 2001, was discontinued at the end of 2002 due to insufficient capacity utilization. In the north-south traffic, an average load of 75 percent was achieved at the end of 2002. In mid-2003, DB and Deutsche Post announced that they would reactivate the connection between Cologne and Berlin at the beginning of 2004 in order to transport additional parcel and express shipments by rail.

After the renaming from Danzas to DHL at the beginning of 2003, the PIC locomotive 182 009-1 was redesigned in summer 2003 as an advertising medium in a combination of the corporate colors of Railion and DHL / Deutsche Post Worldnet.

In the run-up to Christmas, the parcel volume with DHL and other parcel services increases significantly. The regular trains are then insufficient, and special trains are used, which usually run on weekends and then also during the day. At the end of 2014, for example, what was then DB Schenker (now DB Cargo) ran “62 additional trains with space for around 2,900 containers. There was space for around three million programs. The rail freight operator has transported more Christmas packages than ever before. "

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Willi Dorn, Heinrich Wehrmeyer: Parcel InterCity . In: Railway technical review . tape 50 , no. 7/8 , 2001, p. 463-467 .
  2. ^ Dieter Homeyer: Announcement 1 to Group Directive 408 . Ihr Bahn , ISSN  0948-7263 , issue 2/2004, pp. 97-102.
  3. ↑ a b c Parcel InterCity: offer will be doubled . In: Eisenbahn-Kurier , No. 345, June 2001, ISSN  0170-5288 , p. 9.
  4. ↑ Ralf Heinz: Parcel InterCity In: Miba special , Issue 51, pp 98-101.
  5. ↑ DB Cargo and Deutsche Post start Parcel-Intercity . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 2/2000, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 87.
  6. ↑ a b Announcement of the PIC offer expanded . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 1/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 2.
  7. ↑ Notification of expansion of the PIC network . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 2/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 52.
  8. ↑ Announcement of expansion of the PIC offer . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 6/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 247.
  9. ↑ Notification of PIC traffic restricted . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 1/2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 11.
  10. ^ Announcement expansion of the Parcel-Intercity . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 8–9 / 2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 340.
  11. ^ "Post from Santa Claus", article in the DB Schenker magazine "railways" No. 4/2015, page 2. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on February 29, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dbschenker.com