Austria: Maschinenfabrik Liezen und Gießerei has produced the first of 40 piggyback wagons ordered by Helrom, a start-up rail freight company.
The first wagons will be put into service in April on a route between Regensburg in Germany and Lébény in Hungary.
Using special hydraulic system, which allows the vehicle to swing out to the side, a truck can load a semi-trailer onto the Trailer Rail without any other means. According to Helrom, this approach does not require any investment in the construction of loading terminals, as all that is needed is an asphalted area next to the railway tracks.
In February last year, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure approved a €15 mln grant to bring the project to market. In June, Helrom received a €34.5 mln loan from Deutsche Leasing Finance and Societe Generale for production development.
