Would it really stand a chance, freight transport via underground
pipelines? On 16 April, LogistiekProfs.nl posted about MoleSolutions, a start-up from England investigating the possibilities for this
and wants to start a pilot in Northampton. Shortly before that, Wim van de
Camp, member of the CDA European Parliament, presented his vision of the future of European
transport, which included a focus on goods transport via pipelines between
Tilburg and Eindhoven, for example. 'Tube mail', Van de Camp called it during
an interview for NPO Radio 1.
The ideas for underground freight transport are
anything but new. Fifteen to 20 years ago in the Netherlands
several studies into 'underground logistics systems' (OLS).
The most concrete was the plan for an underground transport system between
Flower Auction Aalsmeer and Schiphol Airport. For this, a pipe with a diameter of
two metres should be constructed, into which unmanned vehicles would transport parcels of
1.25 x 1.25 x 6.00 metres would have to be transported. Partly in view of the large flow of
flowers and plants that are flown daily from Aalsmeer via Schiphol Airport to destinations
around the world, this seemed an attractive concept. However,
realisation never came, however.
Above-ground variants
This also applies to the many OLS concepts that
several cities in the Netherlands have commissioned research. All
studies led to the same conclusions: too high investment costs, which do not
outweigh the benefits. Here and there, the research shifted from
underground logistics systems to unimpeded logistics systems
above ground. Most recently, the idea for an unhindered logistics
system between the port of Born and VDL Nedcar's car plant. These
above-ground variants have not materialised so far.
Chance of success?
Does the initiative by UK-based Mole Solutions have a chance
of success? What argues in favour of this start-up is that it does not first have to
with all kinds of government agencies and consultancies first
consulting about possible routes and business cases, but first started building a
building a working system. Mole Solutions has developed capsules that
can be linked together and drive on rails through a pipe.
Each capsule can hold two pallets, which can soon be loaded and unloaded fully automatically.
loaded and unloaded. Once the hardware is ready, the concept will automatically start to
much more alive. Something that seems futuristic on paper suddenly becomes
realistic.
Importance of logistics service providers
What makes realisation difficult is the way in which the
transport is organised today. The vast majority of companies have
outsourced transport to logistics service providers, which means that all the
transport-related problems such as congestion andCO2 emissions in
initially become the problems of the service providers. Those
service providers in turn live off transport and have no interest in
investing in an underground logistics system that would cause their trucks to
come to a standstill. Breaking this deadlock will take a lot of guts, a lot of patience and
above all, a lot of money.
Marcel te Lindert - journalist logistics and supply chain management
