Posted on 10/07/2019 5:25:12 AM PDT by Gamecock
Over the last couple of months, major container lines and alliance carriers have been blanking several of their headhauls from Asia to Europe, citing weak peak season demand. Since July 2019, seasonal rates have been consistently lower year-on-year with container prices in China to North Europe lanes moving lower; there was a 21% decline this month compared to October 2018.
Container lines blank their headhauls because it helps them marginally stabilize the declining container spot rates. However, this would come at the expense of North America, as every vessel withdrawn from the European market will mean a lost backhaul voyage from North America.
To a neutral observer, the shrinking of maritime capacity between Asia and Europe could be a marketing opportunity for the trans-European railway intermodal system that now boasts a connection to the industrious Chinese East Coast, made possible through Beijing’s One Belt One Road initiative. But unlike the way the U.S. leverages its extensive railroad network to move freight, Europe does no such thing, with its freight rail system lagging behind the U.S. by several decades.
The reason for this chasm in rail freight growth is because of a fundamental difference in perspective. Europe never measured the effectiveness of its well-engineered railway system by the volume of freight it hauled, but by the number of passengers it could move.
“As railroads are privatized in the U.S., we have constantly moved towards heavier axle loads over the last four decades. Our standard railroad cars can take 286,000 pounds. Every car has four axles, and thus every axle can roughly handle 71,500 pounds, which is equivalent to 32.5 metric tonnes. But in Europe, a typical axle load is only about 20-23 metric tonnes,” said Jim Blaze, a retired U.S. railroad veteran.
Compounding problems is the permitted length of every freight train in Europe. For operational purposes, the total allowed length of a freight train in Europe is 700 meters (~2,300 feet) and the maximum length of a train including its locomotive and lengthening can be 750 meters (~2,460 feet).
This is diminutive compared to the U.S. freight trains that average around 2,000 meters (6,600 feet). Freight train lengths exceeding 6,000 meters (~19,700 feet) can also be frequently sighted in the U.S., which are made possible by adding a few more locomotive units to the cars, either at the end or in between for additional power.
“The 750-meter maximum train length in Europe is necessary for a system that depends on passenger transport rather than freight. Trains need the ability to brake rapidly when they are moving passengers, and it becomes difficult as the trains lengthen,” said Blaze.
Another issue is the vertical height of cars. In the U.S., the vertical height limitation has been rewritten several times, with newly built cars now topping 23 feet from the rail. In Europe, the vertical car heights have remained at 15 to 16 feet, roughly 30% lower than the U.S. rail cars.
“At 15 to 16 feet, European railroads cannot handle double stacks. If you go to a double stack-engineered freight car platform, you get an immediate 35-45% per container mile drop in your shipping costs on the railroad,” said Blaze. “Europe has been stuck with the same freight train size as they had after World War II. Meanwhile, maritime competitors have grown by orders of magnitude over the years.”
European railways had no incentive to take risks to re-engineer and spend billions of euros to increase clearances and rework tunnel heights for double-stacked railcars, because the European railway business model was about moving passengers and not freight – the opposite of how North America dealt with its railroad system.
That said, Blaze pointed out to how commercial necessity has helped transform a Scandinavian railway line running within Norwegian and Swedish borders to carry around 30 metric tonnes on each axle load, unlike the regular 20 to 23 metric tonnes that is carried in the other parts of Europe.
“This line runs from the port of Narvik, a Norwegian town north of the Arctic Circle, to the Swedish town of Kiruna, where iron ore is mined. It so happened that in 1998, the Swedish mine owner announced that it was very expensive to move its iron ore from Kiruna to Narvik and that it would be forced to shut down the mine if the cost per tonne mile was not brought down,” said Blaze.
This set off massive renovations to the railway line, with Sweden strengthening the rail, fortifying the anchors that hold the track down, increasing rail lengths on curves and at crossovers. These improvements helped to make sure the rail cars could carry heavier loads.
“Increasing the axle loads meant an increase of loads per car by 20%. Though it had to increase the track maintenance budget by roughly 20%, the railway had lower crew costs, lower engine costs and lower equipment costs because it was getting much better utilization of the equipment. This led to a 28-30% net increase in savings for the movement of the iron ore,” said Blaze.
Going by this instance, it can be gathered that what was done in Scandinavia can be replicated by the German Deutsche Bahn or Swiss Rail. Europe failing to take an interest in bolstering its freight railway system eventually boils down to the lack of incentive. Respective countries run their share of Europe’s railway network and have not allowed the rail sector to be privatized like in North America.
In essence, it is about time Europe addresses the elephant in the room. For the EU, the equation is simple – increase capital expenditures on its aging railway system and look to take volume from a maritime market that looks particularly vulnerable today.
Will there be any train surfing? ;*}
The article talks about the new railroad from Europe to the eastern seaboard of China.
That is because the mainline east/west of the BNSF crosses northern Idaho and runs from Seattle and Sumas all the way to Minneapolis and then down to Chicago.
The next east/west line runs through SLC/Denver/Omaha/KC.
The southern east/west line runs from Barstow/Flagstaff/Albq/Dallas/Memphis/Birmingham.
The UP also has several east/west lines.
The line you mentioned handles most of the lumber moving east out of OR, WA, ID heading east.
FYI, what the railroads like the best is moving coal, oil and grain.
That way the WHOLE train starts at one point and delivers to one point. No stopping along the way to pick up another ten cars from this mill or twenty from that mill.
As the major railroads have consolidated in North America they have less interest in serving the smaller volume accounts.
These are the big railroads left: BNSF, UP, CN, CPRS, CSXT, NS, KCS. This has left the service of individual locations in many metro areas to small specialized feeder railroads that only service metro areas. Like the IHB. They just move cars around Chicago. The big railroads all bring cars to them in the Chicago area. They actually deliver to many of the customers.
Many of our lumber yard customers lost their rail sidings in the last 20 years. Many sidings were abandoned once they needed repairs because there was just not enough revenue or ROI for the railroad.
There are many “railtrails” across the northeast and Midwest that were once active railroads. Now they are bike paths and running trails in and around many cities.
LOTS of coal moving along the Washington side of the Columbia River...a LOT!!!
Europe has a vast network of water canals to ship product.
Europe never measured the effectiveness of its well-engineered railway system by the volume of freight it hauled, but by the number of passengers it could move.
Not gonna say it...
Around 1940 this was established....
In Alaska, most trains carry oil or coal. Increasingly, tour packages include passenger trips by train. Alaska Railroad is the only state-owned rail system in the U.S. The state of Alaska also owns the Ferry System. Both are heavily used.
Moving east or west?
I would guess west to Portland. Load it on a boat and send it to China maybe.
Passenger rail systems can share freight lines. Japan does it all the time. It was done in this country for over a hundred years until competition with the Federal Highway system killed the railroads. Europe has a vast network of canals where most of the freight is moved. Railroads in Europe always mostly moved people and time sensitive freight.
In the US the emphasis is on air travel and roads.
What is this train thread without Willlie Green?
*****************
Interesting that you say that. Willie’s last post
on FR was a Train thread.
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2607597/posts
Trains Save Fuel
10/14/2010, 4:04:05 PM
All that shale oil and coal in Wyoming and nearby areas is flowing through on those trains. The containers moving east are full of Chinese and other Asian goods.
Yes!
I imagine the scenes from old movies: sitting in the restaurant car, eating while looking out window. Or preparing for sleep in sleeper car. For some reason it is soothing. Don’t think they make them like that any more.
In the US the emphasis is on air travel and roads.
I always wonder what the country would be like today if the Federal Highway Act was never enacted.
We could have profitable passenger rail operations in the U.S. , but only in a select few markets, like the northeast corridor.
If Amtrak were privatized it could cut all passenger rail routes that could not be profitable. Then, when those money losing lines were not wasting the rider revenues privatized rail outfits could build “high speed” routes, where they would actually work, without taxpayers spending a dime.
However, as this article points out we have a very efficient rail freight system run by private rail companies. But they often share the same rail beds with passenger trains, and already have to adjust schedules to accommodate each other. If privatized passenger rail was to actually improve and expand where profitable, it would require more adjustments with freight lines, or more infrastructure investment to lay more rail beds in some places.
But “high speed” rail should be an initiative of private rail companies with experience in railroads, not newcomers to the industry and not as political initiatives.
One of the few ways government can legitimately assist the rail industry can be, and ought to be no more than, assistance with obtaining the necessary rights of way.
Moving West....I believe Portland banned coal shipments by rail, or something...so they are likely loaded out of Vancouver, WA
For the same reason the US is so “backwards” with passenger rail: geography.
You can’t find a Western/Central European city more than 400 miles from an excellent port.
Or Longview, WA. or Tacoma, WA.
Tacoma is the main shipping port in the Pacific Northwest.
Oakland and Long Beach in CA. These are where most of the stuff from China comes in.
The huge ocean going container vessels/supertankers and bulk Cargo ships can not go up the Columbia River. I am talking about the biggest ships in the world.
Oh, you’re right...I used to live above the Tacoma port....yowsers...
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