“Double dividend: Lower costs and lower emissions”

The RailRunner® solution appears innovative, particularly in enabling seamless intermodal transitions. Can you clarify whether it is already proven in commercial settings or still in the conceptual/pilot phase? Are there any operational deployments globally?

The product has still to be introduced in India and after having received in-principal commercial approval from Indian Railways, we are now starting the technical design approval, following which it will be introduced commercially in India. 

The design is proven globally, and has operated in the USA and Europe already, and the company also has a South African presence currently.

Who are the key stakeholders involved in daily operations—such as logistics operators, rail authorities, and terminal handlers? Could you walk us through the end-to-end process flow of how cargo is handled from origin to destination using the RailRunner® system?

Other than the cargo owner/customer, there are three key stakeholders – the railways, who operates the train, the truck operators, who are responsible for first and last mile movements, and the terminal operator, where the bi-modal exchange takes place. 

What is the present status of the RailRunner® solution in India? Has it undergone field trials or pilot runs? What are the next steps toward scaling this into a viable national logistics solution?

As indicated, we are now initiating the technical approval stage with Indian Railways (RDSO), and it is expected that the first commercial trial will take place within 18-24 months.  In terms of scaling this, we are already beginning to engage with various potential commercial partners and hope to bring this solution over all key routes of Indian Railways within a few years of launch.  Our commodity focus will be on light weight manufacturing cargo which currently moves almost entirely on road.  The objective is to provide a viable rail solution for such cargo.

At intermodal terminals, how seamless is the transition from road to rail or vice versa using the RailRunner® system? What are the typical time requirements and technical complexities involved in such handovers?

Since no handling of cargo or containers takes place, the intermodal transfer is quite seamless.  The normal time for train formation or dissolution is a mere 5 minutes per trailer, and about 3-4 hours per train. The space requirement at the terminal are a width of approx. 5 m, and a flush handling line.  No cranes are needed for handling, and operations can easily be carried out in electrified sidings where container operations are usually constrained by the need to operate cranes. This makes the cost of terminals both in terms of capital cost, and operating expense much lower than standard multi-modal terminals.

Lifting trailers and containers with cranes and/or reach stackers creates huge vertical forces on the ground, similar to a jumbo jet landing. During the lifting process, 30t or more of container or trailer weight is concentrated at the contact point of the wheels of the gantry crane or reach stacker. In order to insure safe and reliable terminal operation, a large investment, has to be made in terminal ground preparation.   In comparison, RailRunner drive-on/drive off technology generates only “parking lot” forces and obviates these large investments.

Considering India’s use of multiple rail gauges (broad, standard, and narrow), can the RailRunner® technology be adapted or customized for compatibility? What design innovations make this possible?

India has now moved entirely to a broad-gauge standard, except for some tourist routes, where narrow or meter gauge rail operates.  The RailRunner product for India will therefore be fit for broad gauge operations.  However, the technology itself can be redeveloped for other gauges as well – In the USA it works on standard gauge (1435 mm), and in South Africa, it has been developed for cape gauge (1067 mm).

Freight trains in India often face disruptions due to prioritization of passenger traffic. How do you plan to integrate and schedule RailRunner® operations within India’s existing rail network? Is there scope for dedicated freight slots or corridors?

RailRunner operations will operate akin to other freight operations, and therefore subject to similar operating conditions as other freight trains.  However, there are two factors that cause us to be optimistic about more reliable and efficient RailRunner operations. 

The first is the expected increase in rail capacity being undertaken by Indian Railways itself, through projects such as more dedicated freight corridors, tripling and quadrupling of lines on key routes etc., which will ease the current network congestions.  In addition, RailRunner itself as a technology matches the technical specifications of most passenger trains, and hence can be speed certified by IR if needed to match higher speeds and hence not be impacted by the speed differential that effects other freight services.

Do you have estimates or case studies that illustrate capital and operational cost savings using RailRunner® compared to traditional trucking or container-on-flatcar (COFC) methods? How does it compare in terms of fuel efficiency, emissions, and turnaround time?

It is our estimate that on commercial terms, RailRunner will be able to offer a landed price to customer that is 10-15% lower than current Road costs.  This will be the target price that we will look to offer to potential customers.

The overall cost of operations is also likely to be lower by 20% to 38% compared with conventional rail or Ro-Ro options, due to higher capacity in terms of number of units per train (56 units compared to 45 Ro-Ro trucks), lower handling and terminal costs.

Emission savings are estimated at 33% lower than conventional road and similar to existing rail, since the same locomotive that is currently used in rail will be used for RailRunner as well.

Further, our estimates for the US indicate that a gallon of diesel fuel can transport a ton of freight from 80 to 120 miles by road or roughly 400 miles by rail – a 70-80% reduction in fuel use. Further, each 100,000 ton-miles moved by rail results in 13,105 fewer pounds of emitted CO2. Moving just 1% of current short haul freight from road to rail means 100 million fewer gallons of fuel used and 2.2 billion fewer pounds of CO2 emitted per year.