International Rail Transports

Rail freight transport:

is the use of railroads to transport cargo;

A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods

wagons (UIC) hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, transporting
cargo all or part of the way between the shipper and intended destination as
part of the logistics chain;

Trains may transport bulk material, intermodal containers, general freight or

specialized freight in purpose-designed cars;
Moving goods by rail often involves transshipment costs;

The largest rail networks are located in North America and Eurasia;

Road transport accounted for 72.7%, rail for 16.7%, inland waterways for
5.3% and oil pipelines for the remaining 5.2% in EU for 2013.
Several different forms of rail freight transportation exist and in general it is
characterized by three different products. The Rail Freight operators generally
propose three means of transportation:

Segment

Description

Commodities

Share of volume

Single
wagon

The client wants to

transport
a
few
wagons

Chemicals, Vehicles
and Machinery

50%

Full /

The client has enough

goods to fill a train

Coal
and
Construction
materials

35%

Block
Train

Steel,

Intermodal

Transportation
by
container:
the
container or trailer is
lifted on the wagon

Finished
goods,
Containerized goods

15%

The advantages of transport by rail

High capacity allows cars to carry more cargo in a single unit of the
rolling stock. As a covered wagon load one can replace 3 trucks;

The ability to carry light and bulky goods in the rolling stock, which is
especially advantageous for long-distance;

Ability to move to any land area, with the help of bridges, tunnels;
Implementation of the railway connection, and separated, including
islands, territories;
Mass transit and high capacity of the railways;

Versatility of use for the transport of various goods and the possibility of
mass transport at high speed;

Regular service, regardless of the season, time of day and weather

conditions;

Ability to create direct linkages between large enterprises on how to

access and ensuring the delivery of a "door to door" without a costly trans;

As compared with water transport, as a rule, the shorter the path of the
carriage of goods;

Relatively low cost of transport as compared with other modes of

transport, except for the pipeline.

International conventions
1. Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF)
Signed in Bern, in 1980;
The aim of the Organization is to promote, improve and facilitate, in all
respects, international traffic by rail;
The entry into force in 1985 of the 1980 Convention concerning
International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) marked the birth of the
Intergovernmental Organization for International Carriage by Rail, known
today as OTIF;
OTIF currently comprises 46 countries;
The Uniform Rules created by OTIF are applicable to international rail
transport on railway infrastructure of about 250,000 km.
The main tasks of OTIF concern:
international rail transport law (passenger and freight traffic);
carriage of dangerous goods;
contracts for the use of vehicles ;
contracts for the use of railway infrastructure;
validation of technical standards and adoption of uniform technical
specifications for railway equipment;
removal of obstacles to the crossing of frontiers in international rail
transport;
participation in the preparation of other international conventions concerning
rail transport.

2. The
International
Wagon
Regulations
RIV
(Regolamento Internazionale dei Veicoli )
Were first agreed between the European railways in 1922;
RIV is about the international use of goods wagons in Europe;
The RIV laid down the technical requirements that a wagon had to
meet in order to be used in international service
They were superseded on 1 July 2006 by the General Contract of Use
for Freight Wagons (AVV)
The General Contract for Use of Wagons (GCU or AVV) is a
multilateral contract based on the international convention COTIF
1999 and RIV. The GCU specifies the mutual rights and obligations
of Wagon Keepers (K) and Railway Undertakings (RU) with regard to
the use of rail freight wagons as a means of transport throughout
Europe and beyond.
The rules regarding the goods transported by rail
Railway transportation is required to achieve the fulfillment of the following
conditions:
The deliverer should follow the CIM uniform rules and the set tariffs,
The railway does not take over
the goods that are reserved for the mail delivery;
goods that can not be transported due to their size or weight;
dangerous goods excluded from the international regulation RID (Regulation
for the international transport of dangerous goods);
Goods that are prohibited to be transported within a transit country;
Dangerous goods are allowed only in accordance with RID rules;
Live animals are allowed only with an attendant from the expeditor

3. The Rail Waybill

The content and the form of the Rail waybill are established by the
International Railway Convention CIM.
The Rail waybill is signed between the predator of goods and the reception
station from the expedition country, which acts as a unique agent of all rail
stations participants to the international transportation.
The rail waybill is considered to be concluded when the goods are taken
over by the reception station and this operation is confirmed by stamp
application on the waybill.
The rail waybill is drawn for each loaded wagon or each parcel of goods (in
case that the wagon is not loaded at full capacity).
It is drawn in 2-3 languages (English, French, German, Italian)
The Content of Rail Waybill:
Name, address of shipper;
Name of reception station;
Description of goods;
Value of cargo;
Shipment pick-up date and time;
Name and address of the consignee;
Name of the final destination station;
Weight and dimensions of transported cargo;
Number of parcels and type of packaging;
The number of the wagon;
All documents enclosed to the waybill.

The Rail Waybill is made of:

The Original
The waybill foaie de expeditie
The notice and certificate of receipt
The Duplicate
The certificate of the rail waybill
Copy of the letter