A new type of wagon designed to transport salt by rail between countries across Europe has been heralded as a big game changer when it comes to the distribution of salt and climate change.

The new TALNS wagon’s design and construction were a joint venture between the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG), Donau Chemie, a salt processing site in Austria, and a team of innovative equipment companies.

Originally salt arriving at the Austrian slat processing site was coming in from Slovenia and north Austria by trucks.

As Donau Chemie seeks to reduce its carbon emissions, the need arose to find a way of transporting the salt by rail using a more durable fleet of railway wagons.

The TALNAS wagons started operation in spring earlier this year.

Salt is used in many things, from treating water supplies to preserving food. However, salt does corrode steel, and the new type of TALNS wagon had to be carefully designed so that the material of the wagon needed to be robust so that it doesn’t age fast when it comes into contact with the precious commodity they are designed to carry.

To combat this a new type of coating has been applied to all surfaces of the wagons, inside and out to ensure they have a longer service life than previous salt wagons.

“A full train can carry approximately 1,100 tonnes of salt. It would take 44 trucks to transport this amount of tonnes. By using environmentally friendly rail, we are making a significant contribution to climate protection. The exemplary supply concept is an important step toward the “modal shift” from road to rail.”

Richard Fruhwürth, CEO of Donau Chemie AG