With EVplus, DB Cargo launches door-to-door service

Container train

With EVplus, DB Cargo launches door-to-door service

Door-to-door deliveries between Hamburg and Cologne are now available with our brand-new single wagonload product. This service will give customers without private sidings access to the rail network.

 With EVplus, DB Cargo launches door-to-door service

Collection today, delivery tomorrow – since the end of August, we have been using overnight express service to transport freight from Hamburg to Cologne for our customer Coca-Cola. This is a combined transport service, which means trains cover the long-distance leg of the route while lorries handle the short sections so freight is delivered straight to the warehouse. All this is possible thanks to EVplus, our new door-to-door product. With short transit times, this solution opens up the rail network to companies which don't have a private siding of their own, and it can be used to transport standalone consignments. The service requires practically nothing of customers, as DB Cargo takes charge of organising every aspect of the service, such as supplying the single wagonload equipment (i.e. 45' swap bodies) and performing first and last mile deliveries by lorry.

Daniel Knaus is the project manager for EVplus. "EVplus combines the advantages offered by our dense network of single wagonload connections with the flexibility of road haulage," says Knaus. "Our customers see us as end-to-end logistics specialists. Not only do we transport freight by rail and road, but we also supply the equipment for it. This brings us closer to customers and enables us to respond better to their needs." 

The solution that started with Coca-Cola is also available to all other customers, and demand is high. "We have identified a considerable need for intermodal solutions among our customers, especially in the consumer goods industry," says Knaus. "At the same time, this service offers other business sectors a fast and sustainable alternative to lorry transport. Many customers don't have a private siding, and we want to give them access to the rail network through EVplus."

DB Cargo is also planning to expand beyond Hamburg and Cologne. The company intends to use EVplus to link all nine major formation yards and shunting hubs. The ultimate goal is to shift some 170,000 lorry loads from the roads to the rails each year until 2030.