Green light for Ikea´s trains to replace 50 lorries

Green light for Ikea's trains to replace 50 lorries Banverket (the Swedish National Rail Administration) is now giving the green light for Ikea to operate one train per day in each direction over the Öresund Bridge, using the Continental Line in Malmö. The decision means that Ikea will be the first private company in Europe to begin operating its own cross-border freight trains. Ikea's trains will replace 50 lorries per day. Ikea plans initially to run trains between the central stores in Älmhult and the junction station at Duisburg in Germany. In the long term, the objective is that 40 per cent of Ikea's European transports will be by rail. The company is the first in Europe to use the deregulation of railways to operate its own cross-border freight trains. Different electrical systems The planned start-up of operation of Ikea's own trains has earlier been postponed owing to the lack of a locomotive that can cope with the different electrical systems in Sweden and Denmark. Ikea now has the opportunity to acquire a new and particularly low-noise diesel locomotive for its trains, pending production of an adapted electric locomotive. Banverket has had the new T66 diesel locomotive tested by the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute and by Akustikbyrån in Malmö. The tests show that the locomotive can be operated without exceeding the noise limits for the Continental Line in Malmö. "With the new, quieter locomotive, we can accept diesel operation to a limited extent during a transitional period," says Banverket's Assistant Market Manager, Peder Wadman. Trains replace lorries Banverket is granting Ikea permission for a transitional period of no more than 24 months to operate one train per day in each direction using the T66 locomotive on the Continental Line. After the end of this period, Ikea must have gone over to using electricity for operation. A condition laid down by Banverket is that trains are not operated at night, and that they are run only on fuel in environmental class 1. Each of Ikea's trains will replace 25 lorries. Banverket's permission thus means that lorry traffic in Malmö will be reduced by 50 vehicles per day. "Ikea can be a successful example that shows that self-operated, fast, cross-border freight trains are a possibility. It is important, however, that the traffic is conducted in such a way that no-one needs to doubt the environmental advantages of the train," says Peder Wadman. Ikea Rail expects to get traffic running during spring 2002. Contact Ola Nilsson Press Manager 0243-44 59 10 070-698 49 71 ola.nilsson@banverket.se Peder Wadman Assistant Market Manager 0243-44 55 33 070-602 55 33 peder.wadman@banverket.se Mattias Hennius Publicity officer, Southern Line Region 0705-17 00 92 mattias.hennius@banverket.se Charlotte Lindgren Ikea +45 49 15 50 22 0709-14 85 80 Banverket's press office 0243-44 55 99 Information on Banverket www.banverket.se A picture of a T66 locomotive can be found under the heading Media on Banverket's website and can be reproduced free of charge. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/01/07/20020107BIT00470/bit0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/01/07/20020107BIT00470/bit0001.pdf