News / Amazon steps up modal shift of volumes from trucks to railfreight

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Amazon appears to be putting its environmental eggs in one intermodal basket, announcing a surge in European volumes going by rail.

The migration from trucks, which the e-commerce heavyweight said remained a vital part of its last-mile operations, has led to some 50% of its volumes moving by rail and sea, and it now distributes products via more than 100 rail lanes.

Amazon noted: “By moving products by sea or rail instead of via road by trucks, we can significantly reduce our carbon footprint.

“On average, using rail and sea to transport packages or inventory helps reduce carbon emissions by almost 50%. In 2023, like the year before, we’ll transfer thousands of truckloads by sea and rail in Europe, saving thousands of tons of CO₂ emissions.”

Rail has shown itself to be an increasingly important, if not pivotal, element of Amazon’s supply chain, this latest spike in Europe building on the 300% surge recorded in 2020.

And Europe is not the lone focus of Amazon’s rail logistics endeavours, earlier this year it began a tie-up with Indian Railways’ Dedicated Freight Corridor with operations on the Rewari-Palanpur route.

Indian Railways board member Jaya Verma said: “The faster speeds, efficiency and reliability of the DFC will help Amazon India with efficient and timely movement of packages.”

Furthermore, Amazon has an MoU with India’s Inland Waterways Authority to promote the flow of freight via the country’s substantive barge network, using waterways on the Ganga, including National Waterway 1.

Given the supply of inland waterway barge networks across mainland Europe, sources suggest there could be room for Amazon to develop there too.