Page 20 - Port of Hamburg Magazine - 02.18

■ GREEN PORT
20 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2018
cars have already been purchased with quiet brake shoes. In the period covering 2014 to the end of 2020, the company is investing in excess of 200 million euros to re-equip freight cars. DB Cargo expects that the oth- er freight car entities, such as fleet rental companies, will follow our example.
“Since 1999, we have been implementing the volun- tary programme set up by the federal government for ‘noise abatement on existing federal rail tracks’. Along 3,700 kms of severely affected track in Germany, soundproof walls are being built and homes being fit- ted, for example, with soundproof windows. By 2020, a total of 2,000 kms should benefit from noise abate- ment. In Hamburg more than 43.6 million euros of fed- eral funds have gone into the building of 25 kms of soundproof walls, as well as passive noise abatement in more than 1,800 homes,” adds Manuela Herbort. Her colleague Andreas Gehlhaar is Environment and Noise Abatement Officer in the DB Group. It is clear for him too that DB will bring more traffic on to green
rail, as an active contribution to climate protection. “To achieve this, we need acceptance from both the commercial world and the residents on the spot. For this reason too, we shall keep our promise to reduce rail noise by half, by 2020,” says Andreas Gehlhaar. The DB Environment and Noise Abatement Officer’s Report creates transparency and provides compre- hensive information, setting out the most important noise abatement measures. This is a two-prong ap- proach, upgrading both freight cars and noise abate- ment along tracks with protective walls and sound- proof windows. Parallel to this, new technologies are being developed for vehicles and tracks that, going forward, will provide even better protection against railway noise. To quote Andreas Gehlhaar, “Our twin strategy is working: We are reducing noise at its source by upgrading the cars with whispering brakes. And we are lowering noise pollution on the tracks with sound-proof walls and innovative noise abatement.” ■
Greenliner avoids heavy traffic in port – sustainable transport by water
At peak times in the Port of Hamburg, trucks nose to tail, progress at snail’s pace then Greenliner is in the overtaking lane. The inland-waterway shuttles run by logistics provider Rhenus Midgard and barge operator Walter Lauk connect the terminals in the Port and shortcut the heavy traffic. And there are other advantages: Firstly, good environmental bal- ance due to low energy consumption and reduced harmful emissions, a considerable advance on road traffic. Greenliner is a sustainable and at the same time economical transport solution. Primary energy consumption of a truck is at 4.1 litres of diesel per ton kilometre, the inland-waterway vessels need only 1.3 litres of fuel. They emit only 20 percent of the carbon dioxide the trucks produce. The push boats on the Greenliners can be linked to three lighters, each with a loading capacity of 60 TEU. This means that one Greenliner can replace 180 truck movements.
The shuttle leaves from the Rhenus Midgard Terminal on Dradenau. “Greenliner has developed very well
and demand is constantly increasing. At the begin- ning it moved once or twice a week. Nowadays the port shuttles move every working day,” reported Hel- ge Behrend, CEO for Rhenus Midgard in Hamburg. The success of the inland-waterway shuttle can be measured over its ten years in operation. In 2017 alone, it was in action more than 250 times. The barges with a capacity of 1,400 tons transport not only containers but also flat racks, breakbulk and high & heavy cargo. “The slot booking and fee dues for late arrivals introduced last year have made the Greenliner even more attractive. The goods are de- livered in good time to the Rhenus Terminal and then handled just in time, resulting in no delays,” explains Behrend.
In addition the authorization procedures for goods handling in the port area is less time consuming than for road traffic. It takes about one hour for Greenliner to get moving. In contrast to trucks, Greenliner can also function without limitations on every day of the week. ■