Rethinking Rail: A Green Alternative for Heavy Moves

From Issue 3, 2025 of Breakbulk Magazine.

(6-minute read)

For logistics professionals used to moving heavy-lifts by other means, rail might not be the first mode they think of. In fact, big stuff – some very big stuff – can actually be handled on Europe’s rail network with relative ease.

Wind turbine blades, reactors weighing over 200 tonnes, heavy machinery and mining equipment can all go by rail with the right combination of loading planning, specialized rolling stock, route planning and the right locomotives.

There’s now an additional advantage to consider: Most freight railway operators in Europe are embracing sustainability as a key market activity, in a boost to shippers and logistics providers seeking to maximize their green credentials. Industry observers also point out that Europe is suffering a major shortage of truck drivers, and rail requires far fewer driving personnel.

It goes without saying that all oversized cargo must observe the physical limits of weight and size on railroads, outlined in a railroad’s loading gauge. This serves to ensure safe transport without damage to the load, the freight wagons and the infrastructure, such as overhead powerlines, signals, overhead utility lines, tunnel walls and platform edges.

According to André van Dam, DB Cargo Exceptional Transports and Projects by Rail executive, while there is little chance of the creation of wider and higher limits (owing to tunnel, bridges, electrification and signaling on existing lines), it’s quite possible that new lines will be constructed to offer better clearances.

Greater Precision

Various limit lines must be observed when transporting freight by rail, notes van Dam. The loading gauge defines the maximum external dimensions of a loaded freight wagon for safe rail transport. Traditionally, wooden or iron profiles were used to check compliance, but modern methods like optical measuring systems, video surveillance and electronic data transmission ensure greater precision.

Loading gauges vary across European rail networks due to infrastructure differences. For example, France’s loading gauge is 330 mm lower than Germany’s, preventing certain loaded wagons from crossing borders. The loading gauge ensures freight can travel safely without collisions or clearance issues. Consignments that exceed the loading gauge, such as heavy goods loads, are classified as exceptional consignments, which require a special check of their roadworthiness and the co-ordination of internal authorizations. In Germany, this authorization is known as BZA and must be applied for in each country involved in the transport route.

Van Dam says: “All oversized shipments must fit within the area between the poles along the lines and the powerlines above, keeping a safe distance to these. All lines and gauges are documented by the infrastructure management in each country. The smallest gauge of the intended stretch is key, of course. However one can run a shipment needing both a permit on a part of the intended stretch whilst being ‘in gauge’ at another stretch.”

As well as differing load gauges, van Dam is conscious that the differing rail gauges across the continent present a separate set of issues for project cargo and OOG shipments. Track gauge is measured as the distance between the inner faces of the two parallel rails on a railroad track. In most of Western Europe, it is 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm), the ‘standard gauge’.

In Spain and Portugal, the gauge is 5 ft 5 in (1,668 mm) and known as a ‘broad gauge.’ Ireland has a similar broad gauge. Historically, in Russia and Finland the gauge was exactly 5 feet (1,524 mm). Modern Russian standards typically list 4 ft 11.84 in (1,520 mm) as the gauge, though some regions still use the 5 ft gauge - functionally, they’re interoperable in most cases. This gauge is in use in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

Track gauge has a direct impact on the loading gauges of each line - with larger loading gauges on broad gauge lines. It also means that wagons are not interoperable between systems. Rail cargo must take paths scheduled between timetabled passenger and maintenance of way trains, and special cargoes passing several countries can take months to move.

Private Fleet

Italian heavy-lift specialist Fagioli has carried out many European rail shipments and operates one of the most capable private fleets of heavy rail wagons in Europe with a total of more than 150 axles. Its smallest wagon has 12 axles, which offers 170 tonnes of capacity, while its largest boasts 32 axles, which can carry up to 500 tonnes.

Moreno Massetti, Fagioli’s chief operating officer for Europe puts into perspective what a rail professional can offer a would-be customer by indicating the scale of rail movements. For Massetti, a theoretical consignment unloaded at Genoa and consisting of four 40ft containers and six items of machinery, weighing a total of 150 tonnes, would be considered a “small load” for rail. By comparison, such a consignment would likely require a convoy of road vehicles.

Massetti is only too aware of the crisis involving the shortage of truck drivers in Europe, which plays to rail’s advantage. He says: “Indeed in Europe there is a large shortage of truck drivers. Rail transport could surely give an advantage. You still may need ‘last mile’ transports which involve trucks and drivers, but surely less in terms of quantity and skills,” says Massetti.

According to Massetti, Fagioli has performed “a lot of out-of-gauge, meaning super heavy” rail transports in Europe. These have taken place in Greece, Poland, Croatia and Italy and often necessitated several months to study the paths and obtain permits. The longest train organized by Fagioli was a 64-axle train split into two convoy sections of 32 axles to move transport girder beams and a balancer.

In terms of the differing track gauges in European regions, Massetti is not overly concerned. He points out that the overhead electric cables are normally connected with a flexible hook that allows the wire to be raised, so there is no “real problem” within Europe.

He said the company has recently undertaken several significant heavy cargo transport operations within Italy, one example being Fagioli’s successful transportation last year of a 230-tonne rotor from Terni, Italy, to Shanghai, China. The operation utilized a 32-axle rail wagon, followed by transshipment onto a 16-axle SPMT with gantry cranes. The rotor was then loaded onto a dedicated heavy-lift vessel at Civitavecchia for shipment to China.

A Solid Option

According to Dmitrij Hasenkampf, general manager sales and business development at RTSB, speaking with Leslie Meredith at Breakbulk Middle East in February, rail has a significant advantage over road. He said: “First of all, rail is pretty solid regarding weather, so it’s very rare that we cannot provide service due to some weather conditions.

“You have many accidents at the ports, but we barely have them at the rail terminals, so I say the rail product is pretty sustainable and is also good for the environment.”

Van Dam agrees, noting that rail can be considered a “rather easy, cost-effective and reliable solution, because permits are not needed or hard to get. In this segment a shift is noticeable already – road-permits are increasingly difficult to get, detours occur, guidance-vehicles are more frequently needed. Due to more restrictions on the road, political reasons, weakened bridges or more sustainability with green electricity, it will be possible for rail to increase traffic.”

Axle Loads Matter

Some years ago, Vestas and SNCF Geodis developed Europe’s first rail transport system for 55-meter wind turbine blades. This innovative approach significantly reduced costs, transit times, and carbon emissions, while helping to ease road congestion. A single 700-meter train carried nine blades in just 20 hours, lowering transport costs by 15% and cutting CO2 emissions by two-thirds.

The foundation for railroad cars that move project cargo and OOG shipments is the “axle load,” as in road transport. Typically, maximum axle loads for a “category C” shipment is 20 tonnes/ axle, a category D is 22.5 tonnes/axle, while a category E is 25 tonnes/axle. Heavier loads are possible by using wagons having more than two axles.

The project cargo industry makes use of specific wagon types, such as a Schnabel car, a specialized railroad freight car designed to carry extremely heavy and oversized loads, including transformers, nuclear reactors or large industrial equipment.

It works by making the load itself part of the railcar. Instead of resting on a flatbed, the cargo is suspended between two halves of the car, each with its own set of trucks or bogies. The car’s arms or beams – “Schnabel” comes from the German word for “beak” – clamp onto the load, allowing it to be precisely balanced and adjusted in height and side-to-side movement to navigate curves, tunnels, and bridges. They are often used to move power plant components, large transformers and industrial machinery that can’t be disassembled for shipping.

Schnabel cars come in platform, well, coupling, and articulated types, varying by axles, capacity and design. Platform Schnabel cars transport oversized cargo with a lower loading platform, reducing costs, and range from 55 to 225 tonnes, with modern versions reaching 250 tonnes. However, their limitation lies in handling long loads.

Van Dam concludes that it is “important” to note that, on the road, heavier shipments are considered “exceptional” sooner in comparison to rail, due to axle-load. For example, shipments of steel coils weighing 30-60 tonnes by rail can often be done without permits, as more or less a “standard transport.”

What are the top infrastructure priorities for heavy-lift and oversized cargo? Join panelists at Breakbulk Europe to learn more about the innovative solutions, public-private partnerships and investment strategies that are transforming Europe's roads, rail and ports. "Modernizing Cargo Infrastructure" will take place on the main stage at Rotterdam Ahoy on Tuesday, 13 May from 2:25pm - 3:10pm.

TOP PHOTO: Fagioli uses rail to transport project cargo in Europe.
SECOND: André van Dam, DB Cargo Exceptional Transports and Projects by Rail.
THIRD: Dmitrij Hasenkampf, RTSB.