Carmakers were thrilled by the unveiling of a new railway car carrier at the BLG Car Terminal in Hamburg on May 14. This car’s very special advantage is that it is “Italy-qualified”. In Italy, tunnel cross-sections are smaller than in most other European countries. Consequently, none of the conventional car carriers can be loaded, on two levels, with SUVs destined for Italian locations. Similar limitations apply in Spain, England, and France, too.
That is why BLG AutoRail, in cooperation with American rolling stock builder Greenbrier, developed a new type of railcar that sidesteps this problem. There is nothing comparable, anywhere in the world, and that is why BLG AutoRail has had the new development patented. “Italy-qualification” was achieved by using smaller wheel sets and by the capacity to lower both levels once they have been loaded. All the 1,275 railcars operated by BLG AutoRail are equipped with “whisper brakes”. As a result, the noise emitted by trains while braking is well below the permissible maximum of 82 decibels. This means that BLG AutoRail uses Europe’s most modern rolling stock fleet. In 2013, the company helped protect the environment by moving about 550,000 automobiles by rail.
At the presentation of this new railway car, Michael Blach, member of the BLG executive board, and AutoRail general manager Gerald Binz had the opportunity to welcome representatives from twenty different carmakers as well as numerous invited guests and trade media journalists. All those visitors were excited about the performance of these new railcars after seeing the practical demonstration at the car terminal.
