Updates of CIT1 including results and adjustments made to the concept

The successful development of this service has shown that the operation of SWL services in a competitive European market is possible. This is also true regardless of infrastructure closures, the restrictions in place by infrastructure managers.

Over the previous months the growth and expansion of the service has shown that effective operations can be put in place. If these are efficient, flexible, and cost effective the chances of attracting new clients is high. It has also highlighted the lack of awareness of some shippers with regards to rail offers that are available and has identified some situations where the road or maritime sector was being utilised when the rail offer was shown to be much more advantageous.

With regards to route selection, a question that has to be answered is: is it better to focus a service on areas that has less potential loads but also less competition, or to focus on areas where there are bigger volumes but also more competition? To date, focusing on areas with little competition and lower volumes has proven to be successful and the ability to form a solid customer base, who are glad to have alternative shipping options, has been founded.

The service to date has also highlighted that the marketing approach is vital. Regardless of the size of the operation only face-to-face meetings can be used emphasise the advantages of a service, the flexibility of a service and how a service can be adjusted to suit the needs of a client.

Finally, this service has highlighted that a modal shift is possible and has shown good success in bringing loads from road to rail. This has in turn helped the development of the service as by working with road forwarders the advantages of the service has been circulated through their network of contacts bringing in further shippers that would not normally utilise the rail sector.

For more information please read the report on ‘updates of CIT1 including results and adjustments made to the concept’.