The principles for cargo securing in Cargo Transport Units (CTUs) differs completely between the current rules and regulations for road and sea transports on one hand and rail transports on the other. This is not a favourable circumstance for combined transports, especially considering that: - the UIC Loading Guidelines can not be complied with in a steadily increasing fraction of the European fleet of CTUs, and - combined transports on rail are part of transports chains that normally starts with a road transport with CTUs that in principle always are loaded and secured by personnel at industries and terminals familiar with road transports only Thus, the research project “CombiSec – Proposal of unified cargo securing principles for road and combined transport trains” aims to identify cargo securing methods that are in accordance with valid road regulations and that could provide a sufficient and acceptable level of cargo securing during combined transports by rail. This identification has been carried out in three steps: 1. Theoretic analysis and comparison of current regulations for road and rail transports 2. Shunting tests with a wide range of common cargo types 3. Test transports with a wide range of common cargo types The CombiSec project has been financed by the National Swedish Rail Administration and the Swedish Road Administration and by the work of a very large number of industry partners which has participated in the project. In practice, the securing of the goods in CTUs is normally done according to the principles used for road transport. If blocking is not possible, which is the case in most curtainsiders and open flat bed trailers, top-over lashings are by far the most commonly used method for cargo securing. However, generally the UIC (International Union of Railways) Loading Guidelines disqualifies indirect fastenings (top-over lashings) from being used to prevent sideways sliding. Through the analysis of regulations performed within the project it has been concluded that: - The UIC Loading Guidelines offers no relevant method for securing several types of common cargoes in standard curtainsider trailers or open flat bed trailers. - The CEN method for “combined transport –rail” requires copious amounts of lashings to be used in most cases, and can thus not be recommended as a suitable method. Within the project, shunting tests were performed in accordance with UIC Loading Guidelines with 19 cargo transport units supplied by the projects industry representatives. CombiSec 2011-02-24 iv The cargo securing fulfilled the road regulations in 13 of the 19 units only. None of the units were in compliance with the instructions in the UIC Loading Guidelines. Despite this, cargo movements in the longitudinal direction were very limited, and it could be concluded that it is sufficient to secure cargo in cargo transport units for combined road/rail transports according to the road regulations as long as shunting is carried out at the prescribed maximum speed of 4 km/h. During the project, the securing of a wide range of cargoes was documented during test transports of more than 100 units. The selection of units where carried out by two different principles: 1. Multiple units with identical cargo units were documented by industry representatives in the project, throughout the whole transport chain on selected relations. 2. Random units where selected at rail terminals and documented prior to and after the rail haulage. For each unit the cargo type and properties, type and classification of the cargo transport unit as well as the means of cargo securing were recorded. The original position of the cargo was marked on the platform floor and any movement was noted upon arrival at the destination. The following main conclusions have been reached based on the results of the test transports: - In most inspected units, no signs of significant accelerations in any direction could be detected except in some units in one and the same train, which probably was exposed to large shunting speeds. - There were no indications of significant accelerations in the transverse direction in any of the inspected units. - There is a significant wandering effect for unlashed cargo during intermodal transports by rail due to vibrations. The movement of the cargo occurred randomly. - The curtain sides of XL trailers have in these test transports proved to be able to safely contain the cargo within the unit without showing any noticeable deflection, even when the cargo was unlashed. - Indirect lashings (top-over lashings) may be used to safely secure cargo during rail transports. - In all cases, when properly applied, the securing principles for cargo securing during road transports may serve as safe guidelines also for combined transports by rail. Recommendations Based on the findings in the CombiSec project and the conclusions above the principles set out in the “European Best Practice Guidelines on Cargo Securing for Road Transport” is sufficient also for combined rail transports. It is thus recommended that the UIC Loading CombiSec 2011-02-24 v Guidelines are complemented with the inclusion of these principles. It is, however, important to bear in mind that a design acceleration in longitudinal direction of 0,5 g (about 5 m/s2) is based on shunting speeds of maximum 4 km/h. To avoid that cargo moves uncontrolled due to vibrations during the rail part of the transports it is recommended that special requirements are provided for cargo securing arrangements to avoid such movements. If the UIC Loading Guidelines are complemented according to these recommendations it is also recommended to approach CEN/TC 168 to get the basic design accelerations for combined rail transports altered to be in line with the accelerations for road transports. This is important not to jeopardize the future increase of combined rail transports as the cargo securing standard EN 12195-1 (2010) might be used to form