RockTainer Sand successfully in use at Hatschek cement plant
The Rohrdorfer Group of Companies is using the new RockTainer Sand railcars from Austria’s ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG), one of the leading rail logistics providers in Europe, to deliver limestone from the Ebensee quarry to the Gmunden cement plant. The special transport wagons were developed by RCG in cooperation with the Rohrdorfer Group of Companies and Innofreight, an Austrian freight transport and logistics company, in order to be able to transport more cargo with fewer trips. Since May, the 20 new, so-called InnoWagons with 40 RockTainer Sand containers have been used on the Ebensee-Gmunden route. In total, around 450000 t of limestone are transported in this traffic per transport period. That is 36000 truck rides that can be saved every year thanks to the environmentally friendly railroad and the innovative equipment.
Optimized raw material supply of the Hatschek cement plant
Key features of the new development are a higher payload capacity and very efficient unloading technology. The RockTainer Sand can now transport 804 tons of raw materials per train instead of the previous 630 t. Each InnoWagon can carry a maximum of 134 t of cargo. This saves a total of 160 train trips per year. Thanks to the new design of the carrying wagons, which are equipped with carbon brake pads, the trains also run particularly quietly and sustainably. The flaps are also silent during unloading.
New hybrid locomotives from Stern & Hafferl
The RockTainer Sand will be transported by new hybrid locomotives from Stern & Hafferl Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH. The so-called “Vectron Dual Mode” not only saves 53% of maintenance and energy costs annually when using the overhead line, but also several tons of CO2 compared to the diesel locomotive used before, as approx. 80% diesel can be saved. The “Vectron Dual Mode” also saves time during shunting thanks to fast traction changes between electric and diesel operation.
Planning further joint initiatives
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group and Rohrdorfer have already been working together successfully for 30 years. Already in 2017, the transports for the main plant in Rohrdorf were switched to the innovative wagon equipment. Since 2020 RCG has taken over the entire operational raw material supply for the Rohrdorf plant.
2022, the cooperation was extended to another five years and numerous joint projects were initiated. Among other things, a more intensive transfer of know-how is planned. In addition, test runs of efficient and innovative transport options – also in combined transport – are to be further intensified. Testing with various prototypes has already taken place for this purpose.
