Digitalization of rail freight transport

Paul Gerken, Herbert Kotzab, Lennard Blumenstein, Franz Buse, Nils von Euen, Kevin Mucker and Laura Zöllner

A chapter in Changing Tides: The New Role of Resilience and Sustainability in Logistics and Supply Chain Management – Innovative Approaches for the Shift to a New Era, 2022, pp 403-435 from Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management

Abstract: Purpose: Increasing demand for freight transport is in direct contrast to climate policy goals. Rail freight can reduce overall emissions if it builds up more market share. To achieve this, the rail sector needs to increase its competitiveness with other modes of transport using digitalization. Thus, the aim of this work is to analyze digitalization measures in rail freight transport. Methodology: As we consider our problem as a multi-attribute decision problem, we measured the importance of different digitalization measures regarding its contribution to improve the overall competitiveness of rail freight transport based on an AHP-approach. Findings: Based on a systematic literature review we identified 17 digitalization measures, which we grouped into four categories: automated train operation, digital maintenance, automated marshalling, and digital access to rail transport services. Out of those categories, automated train operation should be more focused on, followed by digital maintenance. Competitiveness is based on quality improvement, cost reduction and performance improvement out of which quality improvement was considered most important. Thereby reliability as well as time flexibility were considered as equally important by the experts. Originality: The paper gives a detailed overview of the status of digitalization measures available in rail freight.

Keywords: Innovation Management; Technology Management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/267194/1/hicl-2021-33-403.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:hiclch:267194

DOI: 10.15480/882.4710

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL) from Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics ().