Innovative Twin hub concept

The Twin hub network is innovative in a number of ways. First of all the network idea itself is innovative, but also the cooperation between competitors, the booking system and the service network design are remarkable.

Cooperation
Another innovative feature of the project is the cooperation between competitors. This is on the one hand the cooperation between competing seaports, and on the other hand the cooperation between competing intermodal operators. In fact, hub-and-spoke bundling currently typically involves the seaports of only one country (there are few exceptions). Also hub-and-spoke bundling is typically an internal company affair or is restricted to within a railway family (like DB, SNCF, SNCB).
The Twin hub concept applies hub-and-spoke bundling on a larger scale, involving the seaports of different countries, and based on external cooperation between different intermodal operators (and traction providers). It enables enterprises, also small- and medium-scale ones, to gradually enlarge their networks instead of needing to organise very large flows for each connection. The companies or organisations are willing to take large efforts and overcome difficulties in order to achieve benefits which they are not able to achieve alone. In this way the Twin hub concept responds to the European policy of one European railway area based on market forces and innovative rail products.


Booking system
The innovation in the Twin hub project includes the information systems, research tools and infrastructure. The project will develop a booking system supporting the operational cooperation between different companies.


Service network design
A new research tool is the bundling tool which generates hub-and-spoke services from an origin-destination matrix according to network design decisions such as level of frequency, size of the batch or economic aims (e.g. short- to long-term profitability).


Project meeting

Project meeting
WP 2 (business plan) meeting
15 March 2013, Delft, Netherlands

Last project meeting
Plenary meeting Twin hub project
8 February 2013, Delft, Netherlands

Last Conference presentation
Ports, Terminals & Intermodal Transport 2013; Strategies, developments & Innovations
6-7 February 2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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