On 3 November, the Association of Industrial Rail Siding Operators invited participants to Vienna for the 12th Industrial Rail Siding Conference. Around 200 participants, including representatives from Innofreight, discussed key challenges facing the industry: industrial decarbonisation, security of supply, the digitalisation of logistics processes and the impact of climate change.
Rail freight transport currently faces major challenges, but at the same time offers significant opportunities for a more sustainable and competitive European business environment. Against this backdrop, the 12th Industrial Rail Siding Conference, organised by the Association of Industrial Rail Siding Operators (VABU), brought together around 200 representatives from business, politics – including Federal Minister Peter Hanke – public administration and the railway sector to discuss current developments, innovative solutions and future prospects for rail freight transport.
Industrial rail sidings play a crucial role in shifting freight transport from road to rail, making an important contribution to the modal shift. Held at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in Vienna, the conference focused on key topics such as industrial decarbonisation, security of supply, the digitalisation of logistics processes and the impact of climate change.
Modular System and Full-Service Solutions
These challenges affect the entire industry – including Innofreight. Owner Peter Wanek-Pusset explained how the company is addressing them. He spoke about the renewal of Europe’s wagon fleet, urgently needed investments in state-of-the-art equipment, close cooperation with Austrian industry and with state-owned and private railways, the ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and the important role of the company’s wagon and container manufacturing facilities, InnoWay Trieste and Innoduler.
“Europe has 700,000 freight wagons, but their average age is over 30 years. If we want to advance rail freight transport and increase rail’s share of the modal split, we need investment and innovation.”
Peter Wanek-Pusset, Owner of Innofreight
The equipment manufactured in Italy and Slovenia forms the foundation of Innofreight’s modular concept and was the focus of Frank Dotzauer’s presentation. As a member of the Business Development team, he discussed the company’s evolution into a full-service provider of rail freight logistics, the optimisation of entire logistics chains and how Innofreight aims to use the intermodal terminal in Peggau, together with Alpacem and InterCal, to drive the modal shift forward and help more companies make the move to rail.
All photos: FotoKerschi / Werner Kerschbaummayr