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French Post: Transport by Tram & Bike in Strasbourg is off to a good start

(dpa) The French Post is loading parcels onto the Strasbourg tram and combining this with last-mile delivery by e-cargo bike. In Alsace, a different concept is being utilized compared to Germany, where there is hesitation regarding human-material transport due to legal reasons. An opportunity for greener city logistics? So far, the prospects look good.

Two female employees of the French postal service stand with two hand trucks in a tram, where a section of the passenger area is temporarily cordoned off with a banner. In Strasbourg, the postal packages are transported in a regular tram also used by passengers. | Photo: dpa/Philipp von Ditfurth
Two female employees of the French postal service stand with two hand trucks in a tram, where a section of the passenger area is temporarily cordoned off with a banner. In Strasbourg, the postal packages are transported in a regular tram also used by passengers. | Photo: dpa/Philipp von Ditfurth
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von Johannes Reichel
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The French postal service considers the Strasbourg pilot project for parcel delivery by tram to be promising. "It's going very well," said Mathieu Serurier, the regional project manager for letters and parcels at Groupe La Poste, to the German Press Agency. "The current balance is positive." The trial in the Alsatian metropolis will run for about another week – only then will a final conclusion be drawn with all partners. 

To reduce deliveries by van and the emission of pollutants, postal packages are brought once or twice a day on a regular tram from the northern edge of the city to the center. Employees then wait at the tram stop in front of the Old City Hall. They transfer large transport boxes with the parcels and deliver them by cargo bike on the narrow streets of the city center. The trial began at the beginning of September and will end on Saturday next week (October 26). 

"For us, it is an opportunity to save carbon dioxide. At the same time, we want to use existing tram cars," said Serurier. During transport, an area directly behind the driver's cab is cordoned off, and passengers are not allowed to enter it. No seating is lost in the process. 

There have been no incidents during transportation so far, summarized the manager responsible for the public postal company in the Greater Grand Est region. It is still open whether other cities in the country will follow suit. Involved are the train manufacturer Alstom, the Eurometropolis Strasbourg, and the local public transport company CTS.

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Attempts in Germany

Experiments are also being conducted in Germany, but under somewhat different conditions. Recently, there was a four-week test in Frankfurt. Unlike in Alsace, a special freight tram transported packages from mail order companies through the banking city - there were no passengers involved. The experiment made it clear that there is a need for action: due to the growing online trade, the volume of packages has been steadily increasing for years, and more and more diesel transporters are clogging the streets. In Germany, there is a tendency, among other things for legal reasons, not to transport goods together with passengers, said Frankfurt logistics professor Kai-Oliver Schocke upon request. In this context, the risk of accidents plays a role. Moreover, more goods could be transported in a converted tram.
 

High Expectations in Schwerin Unmet

In Schwerin, a longer experiment by Deutsche Post and the local public transport company for a parcel tram already ended at the end of last year. High expectations remained unmet. At that time, it was said that the special transport was not practicable on a larger scale. For well over a year, parcel deliveries were transported to parcel stations at three stops once daily on a special trip without passengers. "We are not pursuing any new projects," said a spokesperson for the postal group DHL in response to an inquiry. The DHL Group was formerly known as Deutsche Post DHL, and last year the company renamed itself. It still operates as Deutsche Post in the national letter business.

Translated automatically from German.
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