DB will support the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 with a coordinated package of mobility and logistics services; DB Schenker coordinates logistics activities.
Providing mobility and logistics in the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation area is a challenge that Deutsche Bahn confronts daily in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The numerous activities in connection with the Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 are therefore an excellent opportunity for DB to present its full range of products and services to a wide public from all areas of Germany and Europe. “We regard North Rhine-Westphalia not only as an important market for our products and services, but actually see ourselves as a partner of the Ruhr region. It is therefore only logical for DB to assume the role of main sponsor of RUHR.2010,” explained Hartmut Mehdorn, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG. RUHR.2010 GmbH, organiser of the Capital of Culture year, and Deutsche Bahn AG signed a cooperation agreement at the beginning of March 2009. Deutsche Bahn’s commitment involves financial and non-financial support, provided across the entire corporate product portfolio.
DB Schenker coordinates logistics activities for RUHR.2010
DB Schenker handles the worldwide integrated transport and logistics activities of Deutsche Bahn. The logistics specialists rank in first place in the national and European land transport market and DB Schenker is also market leader in the global air and ocean freight sector and in contract logistics. DB Schenker has repeatedly proved its comprehensive logistics expertise when handling large-scale events all over the globe, providing the logistics services, for example, for the organisers, sponsors and media at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and at various Olympic Games. “We wish to contribute our worldwide experience to ensure that the entire logistics involved in RUHR.2010 as Capital of Culture go off without a hitch,“ stated Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Head of DB Schenker on the Management Board of the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Mobility Logistics AG (DB ML AG) and responsible for the Transportation and Logistics Division.
In its capacity as Official Logistics Partner of RUHR.2010, DB Schenker has assigned a dedicated logistics specialist to deal with the highly diverse requirements of the Capital of Culture. The transport expert will be based directly at the RUHR.2010 GmbH office in Essen, where she will advise the organisers on all questions of transport and logistics. “The target is to make the most efficient use of the available freight space and avoid no-load truck trips as far as possible. After all, we also wish to live up to our own green logistics standards during RUHR.2010,” commented Dr. Thomas C. Lieb, Chairman of the Board of Schenker AG.
The most demanding challenges for the logistics experts include the opening ceremony of RUHR.2010 and the largest street party in Europe, which will be held on the A 40/B1 motorway, the “Ruhrschnellweg”, in July 2010. DB Schenker will coordinate the entire logistics activities for that event. The focal point of this unique occasion on the main trunk road through the Ruhr area, which will be closed to traffic for the event, is a 60-kilometre long table, made up of 30,000 individual tables, and extending from Duisburg to Dortmund. DB Schenker will transport thousands of beer tents, tables and benches from breweries and tent hire companies from all over the surrounding region to the motorway during the night. The benches and tables will be set up in one gigantic row and then removed again at top speed after the party, to ensure that the motorway is available for rush hour traffic again as soon as possible.
Some 1500 events are planned in connection with RUHR.2010, ranging from large-scale events with mass audiences, to first-class cultural performances, right through to art exhibitions. When it comes to handling works of art competently, DB Schenker is the ideal partner: the company has decades of experience in providing art logistics for museums the world over, including museums in Essen. Again, DB Schenker has established a leading position in the market for these specialist transports, which invariably call for bespoke solutions. Well-known orchestras from all over the globe, such as the musicians of the Semper Opera House, have entrusted DB Schenker with the expert transport of their instruments and accessories. The DB Schenker national company in Austria is also providing a wide range of services to support the logistics activities connected with Linz 2009, another European Capital of Culture. “We wish the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 to be a success for everyone concerned and a flagship for the Ruhr Metropolis – and DB Schenker is determined to make a significant contribution to that success,” emphasised Rausch.