Operationally Intermodal in Europe works very differently than in the US. In the US the railroads own the terminals, lease or own the freight cars, provide the locomotives, schedule the trains, and sell the space on the trains. By contrast in Europe the railroads only provide the traincrews and the locomotives. I am going to explain how it all works by talking about the second largest Intermodal operator, Hupac AG.
Hupac AG, (Hupac is short for Huckepack, German for Piggyback) was founded at Chiasso, Switzerland in 1967 by four Swiss trucking companies and the Swiss federal railroad SBB. The four trucking companies approached SBB looking for a better way to move their trucks from north to south across the Swiss Alps in the days before the Autobahn and Alpine highway tunnels. In 1968 service started between Basel and Melide (near Lugano), using 10 specially built flatcars owned by Hupac. The service was a success, and by the following year it was expanded to run between Köln and Milano. Today Hupac AG is a private corporation owned by 100 shareholders, 97 are trucking companies or logistic companies, and 3 railroads (SBB Cargo, DB Schenker, Trenitalia). The three railroads own 28 % of Hupac, with SBB Cargo owning 12%. The other 72 % of the company is owned by the trucking companies all of whom are its customers. Hupac serves 65 Intermodal terminals in 15 European countries, plus it offers service to two Russian terminals via a partnership with a Russian company. Hupac owns and operates 9 terminals (1 in Belgium, 2 in Italy, and 6 in Switzerland). In addition it has a half interest in the terminal at Singen, Germany, and a third interest in another terminal at Antwerp. Hupac owns or leases 5,529 Intermodal flatcars (80% owned, 20% leased). On a normal weekday 100 Intermodal trains will run on Hupac’s behalf. So here is how it all works, Hupac is constantly receiving inquires from its customers to run services, when by surveying its owners (who are its customers too) it ascertains that there is likely suffi