G.B. Oude Elberink
Bi-modale systemen.
Literature survey,
Report 91.3.LT.2961, Transport Technology, Logistic Engineering.
Three bi-modal systems are discussed in this report. A bi-modal system is a
combined road-rail system, of which the trailer can be transferred into a
part of the train. At the frontside and at the backside of the trailer a boogie
is placed, and so the trailer becomes a trainunit. For transferring the
trailer to the rail mode no equipment is necessary. Several different
types of the bi-modal systems are developed, of which three are discussed
in this report. These three systems are the KombiTrailer system, the
Coda-E system and the RoadRailer system.
Of the three compared system, the KombiTrailer system is the best system.
This system has the lowest own-weight and it is the quickest system for
transferring from road to rail and otherwise. The Coda-E and RoadRailer
systems are heavier and slower to transfer.
The advantages of the bi-modal systems are the lower costs, compared to the
nowadays used systems like containers and swap bodies, and a second
advantage is the lower consumption of energy necessary for the
transportation of the loadunits. Bi-modal systems also have some
disadvantages. The first disadvantage is the low flexibility; the second
disadvantage is the rather long transfer time compared to the transfer
of containers and swap bodies. Beside these disadvantages the managing of the
boogie also asks for some attention.
Compared to the results achieved by the transportation by road, the
bi-modal systems only show advantages in lower energy consumption and a
operational costs reduction. Towards all other aspects the performance of
road transportation is better.
So, concluding it is not to be expected that the bi-modal systems will be used
frequently, because compared to the nowadays used systems the bi-modal systems
show too few advantages.
Reports on Logistic Engineering (in Dutch)
Modified: 2000.04.29;
logistics@3mE.tudelft.nl
, TU Delft
/ 3mE
/ TT
/ LT.