Going underground – the next logistics revolution?

Forget trucking – as driver shortages worsen – and forget traditional intermodal services, which after 20 years or so are still struggling with market access issues… the real future for European surface freight could lie underground, or cargo sous terrain, as a new project is known in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The country is developing a “nationwide, underground, autonomous transport network”. Specifically the system comprises “a three-lane network hosting electric, drone delivery capsules”. The rail-mounted vehicles are designed to load two standard Euro-pallets and will travel on maglev rail at 30kph. But it’s a long way off: “Such a mega-project would be unprecedented, and the 70km pilot project between logistic hub Härkingen-Niederbipp and Zurich is projected to cost $3.6bn and come online in 2028.”