Photo: BGN

Under the direction of Fabio Regazzi, President of the Swiss Shipper's Council (SSC), and moderated by ITJ Editor-in-Chief Christian Doepgen, a forum for the shipper industry will take place at the Hotel Viktoria Jungfrau Interlaken, with topics that also have something of interest for intralogistics specialists.

A. Bilz in the robot cockpit

The «Kamag Precision Tractor» picks up a semi-trailer from its parking space and the person behind the wheel leans back in a relaxed manner - in the SAFE20 research project, Dachser in Ulm is testing the mixed operation of human-driven vehicles and fully automated vehicles in company yards.

Since last week, the first four Siemens Mireo Plus B battery-powered trains have been in operation in the Ortenau region near Offenburg. The official launch was marked by an exclusive inaugural run from Offenburg to Oberkirch and back.

Photo: SBB

To enable trains to operate across borders, the existing GSM-R railway radio technology is to be replaced EU-wide by FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System, via 5G) from the mid-2030s onwards. SBB is testing cooperation with regular mobile network operators between Bern and Thun.

Scania is expanding its range of battery electric trucks (BEVs) with additional electric motors, axle configurations, and cab alternatives, as well as a range of power take-off solutions. This goes far beyond the original level. 

The freight train, which was sent on a cross-border journey in Europe and equipped with a digitally configured automatic coupler for testing purposes, has been given the green light for series production, announced Deutsche Bahn board member Sigrid Nikutta. Currently, half a million freight wagons are still coupled manually across the EU.

In the first two days alone, the open construction site around Stuttgart's main train station – the future "Stuttgart 21" – attracted over 60,000 visitors. For a total of three days, the striking chalice-shaped columns, the skylights, and the first platforms below ground were open for viewing. 

A Flirt H2 for the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority has achieved the world record for the longest distance traveled by a hydrogen-powered passenger train without refueling or charging, exceeding 2803 km (1,741.7 miles), and has thus been entered into the Guinness Book of Records.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics is introducing "Open Enterprise Labs" as a new collaboration format. The German Logistics Award 2023, won with Dachser, was a major endorsement for this type of cooperation. Companies should now be able to work together more extensively on projects.

M. ten Hompel, A. Kirchheim

At the opening of LogiMAT, Michael ten Hompel announced to the assembled press that he would be leaving his post as Managing Director of Fraunhofer IML on March 31st. A touch of melancholy was evident. He will be succeeded by Alice Kirchheim, an expert in logistics systems technology. She has big shoes to fill.

Stadler CEO Peter Spuhler couldn't miss this opportunity. Both the Minister of Transport and head of Saudi Arabia Railways, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, and Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin were present at the signing of a 600 million Swiss franc contract for 20 high-speed trains for Saudi Arabia.

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) returned to profitability in the 2023 financial year for the first time since 2019. However, the pressure to cut costs and improve efficiency remains high. Passenger services transported 1.32 million people daily. In contrast, SBB Cargo's transport performance decreased by 7.5 percent. 

Th. Saas

Hamburg is working with the port authority HHLA and the German air traffic control service on a standard model for a "U-Space airspace" over the Hanseatic city, in which all air traffic data will be interconnected. The Ministry of Transport is supporting the €4 million project with 70 percent of the costs. 

 So far... Image: MileMover

Swiss rail manufacturer Stadler has won a tender for 16 battery-electric multiple units for the Chicago Metro's Rock Island line. This success follows its hydrogen-powered multiple units for Caltrans (California) and several vehicles with alternative propulsion solutions already delivered to the USA.

Gebrüder Weiss reported sales of €2.47 billion for 2023 (2022: €3 billion). Geopolitical conflicts and the global economic slowdown had a negative impact. Nevertheless, €187 million was invested in expanding its facilities and services. Many projects were initially postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.