Logistics giant DP World is cooperating with Nevomo to deploy the MagRail technology, which allows for self-propelled freight movement, in the Deendayal Port in Kandla, in western India. The cooperation is “for a 750-metre pilot project of MagRail technology at Deendayal Port. A first-of-its-kind initiative in India will demonstrate self-propelled freight movement within a live port environment”.
Nevomo’s MagRail tech allows the independent movement of railway wagons without the need for a locomotive. This is because the rolling stock is equipped with the Nevomo MagRail Booster. Existing wagons would be retrofitted with “an electric propulsion with a linear motor”. In this way, they can then travel as part of full trains, in smaller groups or even individually.
DP World and Nevomo signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this end with the Deendayal Port Authority, which oversees the port of Kandla, India’s third largest. The initiative “aims to develop and implement MagRail-based solutions that enable autonomous, electric-powered wagons using linear motor technology on existing rail tracks”, the three parties said in a joint statement.
Nevomo in India
This is not the first experience in India for Nevomo. The company started a partnership with Umeandus, an Indian company specialising in the development of an Automated Container Evacuation System. The two are combining their technologies to find solutions to enhance virtual rail capacity in ports and increase efficiency.
In the video below, you can see the first full-scale tests that took place in Gdansk