It really warms the cockles of my heart when I see the shipping and freight industry taking positive steps to address the issue of climate change..

I was truly inspired when I saw the initiative by Rail Freight Forward led by Europe’s freight operating companies as part of its commitment to boosting climate protection..

Noah’s Train, the world’s longest mobile work of art, has been travelling through Europe since December 2018 stopping at various cities in Europe..

Europe’s freight operating companies are using this special train, which was inspired by Noah’s Ark, to promote the movement of more freight traffic via rail in the interests of the environment..

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Sylvie Charles, CEO of TFMM Rail and Multimodal Freight Transport, said: “Today’s freight transport in Europe equals 275m tonnes of carbon emissions every year. We urgently need to do something about it. The solution exists, and it’s about making more use of rail freight. We need an increase in awareness from the public, which is why Noah’s Train is an invitation to having more freight transport via rail.” 

This initiative organised by Rail Freight Forward involves partners including PKP Cargo, DB Cargo, SNCF, Lineas and the Rail Cargo Group, who came together on this project to promote and increase rail freight movement from 18% to 30% by 2030.

As per Rail Freight Forward, Noah’s Train, the world’s longest mobile artwork, is designed to draw attention to the coalition’s goal of shifting 30% of freight to rail by 2030 – “because rail freight is the only possibility to combine economic growth with climate goals“..

As per below chart from Maersk Line, rail transport is the 2nd most efficient mode of transport in terms of carbon emissions after maritime transport..

The Polish city of Katowice was the starting point for the project, to coincide with the World Climate Conference that took place there in December 2018..

When the train left Katowice on 14 December, the containers were coloured bright green.. The train’s final destination was Brussels, Belgium via Vienna in Austria, Berlin in Germany and Paris in France..

At each of these stops, the containers would be added with more art work..

Inspired by Noah’s Ark, once the train reached Austria, prominent Austrian street artists, spray painted two of its containers and decorated it with colourful images of wildlife and nature..

10 days later when the train arrived in Berlin after passing through Frankfurt and Halle, Berlin’s world-famous graffiti community gathered to paint two new containers with similar images before it left for Paris..

In Paris, street artists from the French capital were invited to decorate two wagons before the railcar left again for its journey through Europe heading to Brussels..

The train arrived in Brussels on the final leg of its journey where a few more art work was added on..

Noah’s train reached Rome on the 7th of May where further artwork was added..

After completing its European journey, the sustainable train is expected to be shipped to Chile where the next climate conference will be hosted later on in 2019..

You can follow the journey of Noah’s train here..

Freight traffic via rail is not new to Europe and holds quite a lot of promise in terms of environmental friendliness and should be further promoted..

Image credits :

Source Link | Shipping and Freight Resource