Zurich Airport features in Swiss underground cargo network

Zurich Airport (ZRH) is set to play a role in an ambitious freight infrastructure project in Switzerland to develop a digital subterranean logistics system for goods transport. Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), the name of both the project and the company planning, is set to enter service early in the next decade, around 2031. The project took a significant step forward recently with approvals from the Swiss Federal Council, a CST spokesperson told Air Cargo World . The project is slated to cost around 3 billion Swiss francs ($3 billion). [caption id="attachment_57065928" align="alignright" width="274"] Photo/CST[/caption] The CST will consist of a network of tunnels through which driverless wagons, powered along conveyor belt-type tracks by electromagnetic induction, would travel at speeds between 30km and 60km per hour, carrying cargo on pallets and in containers, according to the company’s website. This would enable an integrated, fully automated logistics system that operates 24/7. 500 km logistics network The first section of the network will run between Harkingen-Niederbipp and Zurich, a distance of about 70 km that connects about 10 different hubs. Looking ahead, a 500 km underground logistics network that operates across Switzerland is planned by 2045, stretching from Lake Constance, northeast of Zurich, to Geneva in the west, with hubs in other major cities such as Basel, Lucerne and Thun, according to CST. While the network will be primarily equipped to transport small component goods, refrigeration-compatible vehicles will also enable the transport of fresh and chilled shipments, according to the website. Shippers’ production sites or main distribution hubs and smaller sub-hubs, located on the outskirts of towns and cities, would be linked via the underground system. These outer and inner hubs would each be served by escalators that lower and lift cargo to and from the tubes. The shipment of goods from the inner hub to city center retail outlets and businesses — the final leg of the logistics process — would be carried out by hybrid delivery vehicles. While business-to-business transport is the focal point of the service, business-to-consumer service may eventually become an option, too. Project investors Investors of the project include several Switzerland-based retailers and Swiss Post, as well as Denmark’s logistics and forwarding giant DSV and Germany’s Rhenus Logistics . The Zurich Airport Authority is an investor in CST’s operating company, CST AG, and the project makes provision for a dedicated terminal to be built at the airport at the end of a branch of the main tunnel. The tunnel will be designed to facilitate the transit of cargo arriving or departing from ZHR, a spokesperson told Air Cargo World . “The goal is to improve overall logistics [and] supply chain provision and its processes at the airport as well as reducing the number of trucks on the road," the spokesperson said. ZRH ZRH is the main hub of Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss WorldCargo, which joined the Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa Cargo joint venture in May. Initially, the airlines will cooperate on routes from Hong Kong (HKG) to ZRH and Frankfurt (FRA). Traffic to and from HKG and the rest of Europe will be added later this year. ZRH handled 35,521 tonnes of freight in May 2022, a 6% year-over-year increase, according to the latest traffic statistics , but volume was down 7% from May 2019.

Zurich Airport features in Swiss underground cargo network

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