A cost effective solution to manage rail cargo fleets: the final assessment of the F-MAN project

Abstract

The objectives of the EU project Rail Car Asset Management (hereinafter referred to with its short name, F-MAN) were to investigate the feasibility, the potential impacts and benefits of a new approach toward the management of a freight railcars fleet, aiming at improving the competitiveness of Railway Cargo Operators in the context of freight transport. To reach its objectives, the F-MAN Consortium has identified the requirements, designed the architecture, specified and developed the components (on-board and ground fixed) of an IT-based system enabling enhanced fleet management of freight railcars and introducing asset management in the process of the international transport chain. In the paper the authors show the quantitative results of the final assessment of the project, describing also the characteristics of the simulation tool to this aim developed.