HaCon presents first-class transport solutions: Project CREAM on display at InnoTrans 2010

Hanover/Berlin (2010-08-19). From September 21 to 24, the Hanover-based software and consulting company HaCon will again participate at the InnoTrans 2010 at a joint stand with PTV AG. A novelty this year: HaCon devotes a separate stand (102, hall 4.1a) to the latest technological developments within the EU research project CREAM.

CREAM stands for Customer-driven Rail-freight services on a European mega-corridor based on Advanced business and operating Models. Since 2007, project partners from industry and research work on solutions to improve the quality of rail-based transport and make it more efficient. CREAM comprises a transport corridor from the North Sea to the Bosporus. The project is coordinated by the freight transport and logistics team at HaCon in cooperation with the Frankfurt-based company KombiConsult .

Train Monitor software supervises rail transports
In the context of CREAM HaCon has developed the new software Train Monitor for the Frankfurt-based Kombiverkehr KG – the biggest intermodal operator in Europe - as the first user. The software combines real-time train run information from a variety of data sources. The data is automatically transferred to Train Monitor via electronic interfaces (e.g. from train control systems of the railway infrastructure operators, Use-IT, GPS) or is directly entered into the system via an input mask. In addition Train Monitor serves as a platform for exchanging further train information by making use of the HAFAS Information Manager HIM. A unique feature is the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) tool, which provides information on the expected arrival time of the train and the expected time of disposal. These times are calculated automatically on the basis of ex-post train run data. Train Monitor, for the first time, offers transport operators the technical possibility to view all relevant operational information at a glance – including cross-border trains and transhipment terminals.

GPS NavMaster locates trains across Europe
While control centres of infrastructure operators in Western Europe provide the exact position of trains and train times via electronic interfaces, such data is not available in many other European countries. The CREAM partner and co-exhibitor, the Munich-based Eureka Navigation Solutions AG, has set itself the task to fill this information gap and develop a new generation of their NavMaster system for freight waggons and locomotives. The system consists of a GPS receiver, a GSM/GPRS communication module and can be equipped with various sensors. With a special battery, operating times of more than six years are possible. The system is also suitable for retrofitting locomotives. In addition to the current position of a locomotive, the mileage and fuel level is forwarded automatically. The NavMaster data is transmitted through standard interfaces to IT systems such as Train Monitor, which visualises the data. As a complement to the NavMaster, Eureka presents the wireless sensor module RodoTAG which records the mileage of freight waggons.

ISU-Express makes combined transport possible
One of the latest CREAM achievements is the ISU-Express: The CREAM partners Rail Cargo Austria (RCA) and Ökombi have developed this new transport concept, which offers forwarding companies the opportunity, that semi-trailers which are not equipped for crane handlings can yet participate in combined transport between Western Europe and Turkey,. The concept is based on the “Innovative Semi-Trailer Handling Unit” ISU which describes a technology that lifts the trailer with cables to the waggon. In June 2010, additional test shipments have been carried out successfully from Wels in Austria to Stora Zagora in Bulgaria near the Turkish border. In autumn 2010, RCA will start operation on a regular base.

FLOATRAILER ensures smooth transitions in the glass transport
Another product that arose within the CREAM project is the FLOATRAILER for transporting float glass. This new semi-trailer can be lifted by cranes and is adapted to the dimensions of conventional semi-trailers. For the first time, it is possible to load glass trailers with standard handling equipment on standard pocket wagons. The trailer developed by the CREAM partner Offergeld Logistics Group can therefore be flexibly integrated in combined transport operations.

Boost for drive by hybrid locomotive
Voith Turbo Lokomotivtechnik GmbH & Co. KG – a CREAM partner and specialist in propulsion technology – demonstrates how two full electric and diesel motors move a locomotive in hybrid drive and how this is done environmentally safe and efficiently. Voith Turbo will present the concept also on his own stand in hall 1.2, stand 101.

Additionally, at the HaCon stand 126 in hall 4.1a, visitors of the fair have the chance to get to know the Train Planning System TPS for timetable construction and capacity management as well as the market-leading timetable information system HAFAS.

Please contact for further information: HaCon Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Lister Straße 15 | 30163 Hannover | Germany | Phone: +49 (0) 511 3369 9-0, www.hacon.de

Right from the start in 1984 HaCon has focused its activities on traffic and logistic solutions. A team of more than 125 experienced employees in the ranges of IT and transport planning have turned the company into one of the leading players in the field of planning, scheduling and information systems.
HaCon has developed and implemented the timetable information system of Deutsche Bahn (German Railway). Furthermore, numerous European railway companies, transport enterprises and/or groups use the timetable information system HAFAS. In addition, HAFAS serves as a universal information system. Therefore, it can be applied in the flight and goods traffic as well. Another successful product developed by HaCon is the Train Planning System TPS for timetable construction and network capacity management. It convinces more and more customers across Europe.

HaCon Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Lister Straße 15, 30163 Hanover, Germany, info@hacon.de, www.hacon.de
Press Contact: Amelie Dettmer | Phone: +49 511 33 69 9-226 | Fax: +49 5 11 33 69 9-99 | E-Mail: presse@hacon.de
Thordis Stefanie Gooßes | Phone: +49 511 33 69 9-224 | Fax: +49 5 11 33 69 9-99 | E-Mail: presse@hacon.de

This release was published on openPR.