News 2017

29 Mar 2017

Brown coal transports for EP Cargo in Opatovice have started successfully

The first rolling stock, consisting of 15 InnoWaggons equipped with MonTainers and loaded with a fresh delivery of brown coal, has arrived safely at PP Opatovice (a subsidiary of EP Holding) in Eastern Bohemia and been unloaded using the Innofreight semi-automatic stationary unloading machine. The eleventh week of 2017 can be therefore said to have been a big milestone for brown coal transport in the whole of Europe, and not just in the Czech Republic. All of the technology is being delivered and maintained by Innofreight. It is the fourth machine of its kind that Innofreight has produced; however, it is the first one to be used solely for the unloading of brown coal.

The semi-automatic unloading machine is equipped with the latest technology, including a material crusher, water jets, a modern cabin with air conditioning, a vibration plate etc. 70 Innowaggons with 280 MonTainers are in operation every day, bringing coal from West Bohemia in order to provide energy and heat for people in the nearby towns of Pardubice and Hradec Kralove (a total of over 200 000 inhabitants).

For EP Cargo, which is responsible for coal logistics between the mine and the power plant, the new technology means faster-moving rolling stock (due to much faster wagons compared with the Fals wagons previously used, and smoother unloading, especially in winter), greater efficiency in terms of the amount of coal transported per train, and last but not least, increased comfort for unloading crews, and a saving in manpower compared with solutions used in the past.