About the project
UrbFRail is the acronym for the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Project “Revitalisation of Inner-Urban Freight Rail Hubs”. The project’s mission is to enable spatial and transport planners to develop freight rail hubs to improve last-mile transport in inner parts of metropolitan cities.
Four metropolises Berlin, Stockholm, Warsaw and Katowice joined forces to bring rail freight back to the city, to shift more goods to rail and to shorten the last mile. Both shall release congested roads from freight transport.
The project partners jointly developed and tested tools, supporting the inner-urban freight rail hub development:
- A tool to screen possible areas for their suitability to develop a freight rail hub, the screening tool
- A tool to plan the development process of inner-urban freight rail hubs, the development tool
- A platform to share the experience gained, the learning platform
The tools were tested by the project partners at concrete locations and discussed with local stakeholders within peer review workshops.
UrbFRail
Screening Tool
The screening tool, developed in UrbFRail, shall help transport planners to check whether locations are suitable to be developed into a rail freight hub.
The screening tool is assessing a suitability score based on information requested. The accuracy of the results very much depends on the level of detailed information provided by the user. The suitability score is calculated based on 16 criteria having different weight. Based on an expert discussion between the partners, the weights as well as rating has been defined. A maximum score of 835 may be reached. Although not scientifically evaluated, the screening tool provides a first estimation of suitability of a location to be developed into an urban freight rail hub. By precisely formulated questions, it supports the planner to collect necessary information.
UrbFRail Development Tool
The UrbFRail development tool shall provide guidance on how to plan and organise the development of urban freight rail hubs. The development tools focuses on the preparation and planning phase, helping urban and transport planners to take the first steps. The tool is organised along a development pathway, however, it is to be understood iteratively. Each of the process steps is explained. Many useful supporting elements have been developed, like a knowledge base, checklists or decision trees.
The development tool has been tested in all four pilot regions. To this purpose, partners organised peer review workshops involving relevant stakeholders. Documented feedback was used to finetune the tool.
The interactive PDF incorporates open documents in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft-Word format. In case these documents do not work properly you may download them separately as .zip-file.
Pilot regions
Additional Resources
What is combined transport? How do combined transport terminals work? What kind of handling technology is used in combined terminals?
The document below provides a basic introduction into combined transport, supporting urban and transport planners to understand requirements for operating combined transport terminals.
- Activation – Activation of an urban rail freight logistic hub (transshipment facility) refers to the process of establishing and commencing operations at a facility dedicated to the handling and transferring of goods via rail within an urban area. This means initiating rail freight activities in an area that was previously unused for this purpose, possibly repurposing existing railway infrastructure, such as tracks, that may have served other uses like passenger transport.
- Capacity Planning – The planning and management of resources to efficiently meet the demand for rail transport.
- Containerization – The use of standard containers for efficient transport of goods across various modes of transport.
- CT Affinity – In general, almost all goods can be transported in CT loading units. Examples of this include furniture, machines, clothing or chemical products. Exceptions are goods that are too large for containers, swap bodies or semi-trailers.However, not all transport is suitable for combined transport. Additional costs for the handling of the loading units mean that the economic advantages of transport in the main leg (train / barge) usually become apparent after a distance of 250 to 300 km. In addition, not all goods are equally suitable for CT. This means that quickly perishable goods are less suitable for CT, which is more time-consuming compared to road transport. Weather-resistant bulk goods such as coal or gravel are also cheaper to transport in bulk and are therefore rather unsuitable for combined transport.
- Freight Terminal – An area where goods are prepared, stored, and transloaded for rail transportation.
- Infrastructure Development – The development and modernisation of physical facilities like tracks, terminals, and connecting routes for rail freight transport.
- Intermodal Transport – The transportation of goods in a single container or vehicle using multiple modes of transport (such as rail,nship, and lorry).
- Land Use Planning – The strategic planning of land utilisation, particularly regarding the integration of transport infrastructures like freight terminals.
- Logistics Hub – A central node in a logistics network where goods are collected, sorted, and redistributed.
- Modal Shift – The transfer of transport from one mode (e.g., road) to another (e.g., rail), often helps to reduce environmental impacts.
- Rail Freight Corridor – Specific railway routes designated for goods transport, connecting important industrial and logistics centres.
- Rail Freight Hub – A rail freight hub is a central rail transport facility designed for the transshipment and consolidation of goods, often catering to both national and international trade routes. It serves as a pivotal point in the rail network, surpassing smaller rail freight stations with its capability to handle a significantly larger volume of cargo and a variety of cargo types. This hub not only facilitates the efficient transfer of goods between different rail services but also often provides intermodal connections, where goods are switched between rail and other transport modes such as road or sea.
- Rail Yard – A complex of tracks for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading railway wagons.
- Reactivation – Reactivation involves reviving an urban rail freight hub (transshipment facility) that has fallen into disuse or is being underutilized. It encompasses updating, refurbishing, or expanding the existing infrastructure, which includes railway sidings, loading docks, and administrative operations, to resume or enhance the movement of goods and meet the current demands of urban freight transport.
- Siding Track – A secondary track branching off the main track, often used for loading and unloading or temporary storage of trains.
- Supply Chain Management – The management and optimisation of the supply chain from production to end customer, including transportation.
- Sustainability – The consideration of environmental aspects and resource efficiency in the planning and operation of freight terminals.
- Transshipment – The process of transferring goods from one mode of transport to another, often in a freight terminal.
- Urban Planning – The process of developing and designing urban spaces, including transport infrastructure.