Specialized logistics, safely delivered

Around the world, railways are experiencing a renaissance. Transportation authorities are turning to humankind’s first mode of mass transit to reduce traffic congestion and pollution, bring in new technologies and economic growth, and improve public health outcomes and quality of life.

In Egypt, the government launched the Egypt National Railways Modernization Project in 2010 to improve the reliability, efficiency, and safety of the country’s railway system. One of the cornerstones of the project is upgrading and increasing the Egyptian National Railway’s (ENR) rail vehicle capacity. ENR ordered a record-breaking 1,300 passenger coaches from TMH International in 2018, the biggest purchase of rolling stock in the country’s history. The new coaches will increase Egypt’s total rail capacity by 34% and boost people’s incentive to use public transport.

DHL Industrial Projects: Heavy-lift ship from Europe to Africa

Egypt's historic purchase is also the largest order of rolling stock in Hungary's history, where over half of the coaches are being manufactured. Hungarian company Dunakeszi Járm?javító Kft, owned by TMH International AG and Magyar Vagon Zrt, is building the coaches at its production site in Dunakeszi.

How do you get 676 passenger coaches, each weighing 48 tons and measuring 24.5 meters in length and 4.5 meters in height, from Hungary to Egypt? It's an extraordinary, heavy-lift shipment via land and sea.

This is where DHL Industrial Projects comes in – our heavy-lift cargo specialists at DHL Global Forwarding who manage complex project logistics for oversized cargo. Their motto: Specialized Logistics. Safely Delivered.   

The DHL Industrial Projects team manages the end-to-end transport via rail to the port of Koper, Slovenia, where they integrate the cargo into our charter carrier network. From there, they’ll deliver the coaches across the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas to the port of Alexandria. The transport of all 676 passenger coaches began in February 2021 and will run for 32 months.

Due to their size, transporting passenger coaches presents a particular challenge for ensuring safe delivery via sea and rail. Large projects like this involve complex logistics that can take months – and even years – to plan and prepare. DHL’s industrial projects experts tap into their experience and local knowledge to understand the infrastructure, equipment, roads, and regulations at the ports and other touchpoints to design the safest and most efficient route between Hungary and Egypt.

DHL's heavy-lift cargo experts are a team of dedicated specialists

Our DHL Industrial Projects team brings together the world-class, large-scale logistics expertise of the world’s leading logistics company. Over 650 multimodal project logistics specialists across 50+ countries provide the dedicated focus to meet the needs of clients in this infrastructure sector, backed up as needed by our larger DHL Global Forwarding organisation. Projects can be executed anywhere, no matter how remote. Being part of the world’s largest logistics network, with a presence in over 220 countries and territories, provides us with the unique capability of managing cargo while keeping partners and agents to a minimum.

Our work begins with solutions development teams, who work side by side with customers to understand their needs and identify innovative, cost-effective solutions. Dedicated project implementation experts then move in to establish standard operating procedures, system requirements, KPIs, and clear interfaces between our project and customer teams. Project forwarding experts manage day-to-day- operations, monitor performance, and perform health checks. Our integrated online management system ensures end-to-end visibility and a host of other benefits.

We tap into our local knowledge of ports, roads, infrastructure, equipment, regulations, and experience working in remote and challenging environments to meet our customers' needs. With our extensive sector and project forwarding expertise and the strength of our global network, we can maintain the highest commitment to safe, compliant, and secure operations.

 A heavy-lift ship requires all eyes on health, safety, and environment

DHL Industrial Projects is committed to the health and safety of people, the protection of assets and the environment in which we live and operate. Safety is an integral part of our day, every day. We foster a zero-incident culture and aim to be the leader in delivering safety.

That’s why we are ISO certified compliant, we conduct health, safety, and environment (HSE) risk assessment and mitigation, run a subcontractor management program, make annual training mandatory, and more.