Kombiverkehr was unable to repeat the positive trend in consignment development from 2021 and 2022 in the 2023 financial year. With a total of 815,467 truck shipments (one shipment corresponds to the capacity of a lorry) or 1.63 million TEU, a total of 15.9 percent fewer containers, swap bodies and semi-trailers were transported compared to the previous year. The fulfilment rates of the service partners were also a decisive factor in these developments. 13 per cent of the train services ordered from the railways could not be offered at all in the last financial year due to production-related reasons, and the length and weight of trains were often reduced during the year due to diversions.
In the 2023 financial year, Kombiverkehr was able to impress as one of the largest intermodal operators during Europe's profound economic crisis with a stable network of intermodal train services. With over 140 direct trains per week in domestic German traffic and over 420 trains in international traffic between 25 European countries, our network stands for maximum flexibility in routing thanks to gateway systems at major terminal hubs and synchronised ferry and ship crossings.
Even under the most difficult conditions, our aim is and remains to develop new intermodal transport services and position them on the market in the long term. By making changes to our production concepts, we managed to make selected train services more attractive over the course of the 2023 financial year by increasing performance and ultimately generating more volumes on these connections. In addition to some frequency increases, including in Benelux traffic and on the national connections to the German Baltic Sea ports, we also expanded the capacities in our networks by adding new services in the 2023 financial year and in the current year 2024.
Our digital services remain at the forefront. The continuous development of the KV4.0 data hub, which aims to achieve the best possible data quality and data availability through standardisation and industry-wide collaboration, is particularly noteworthy here. Our customer portal meinKOMBIVERKEHR has also been expanded: The order overview now includes - among other things - reliable ETP forecasts and construction site information to ensure the greatest possible predictability for our customers.
This is because each transport from terminal to terminal saves an average of 80 per cent carbon dioxide.
With our flexible terminal-to-terminal connections, we ensure economical and environmentally friendly logistics within Germany.
In the eu.NETdirekt+ continental network, we connect the countries of Europe with over 15,000 gateway connections. Flexibly and day after day.
Five sales divisions are responsible for more than 50 international train products. To ensure that our customers' goods reach international business centres in a climate-friendly way by rail.
