RCG moves 13,800 tonnes by MOBILER through Hamm in H1 2026

By Olivia Hart

ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) transported approximately 13,800 tonnes of industrial material in 584 MOBILER containers through Maxi Terminal Hamm in North Rhine-Westphalia during the first half of 2026, according to the operator. The disclosed traffic includes shipments from southern Sweden to Germany.

Salt slag made up part of the cargo. RCG carried it for recycling company Befesa from southern Sweden to Germany over its single wagonload network, with part of the volume routed through Hamm for onward delivery to Lünen. The announcement does not quantify Befesa’s share of the 584 containers or its tonnage.

The single wagonload network carries the long-distance leg from southern Sweden. For the part of the Befesa volume moving through Hamm, the terminal changes the routing from rail to road before delivery to Lünen. RCG can therefore offer the through movement as one managed service, with the industrial customer receiving the material by road rather than taking responsibility for a railhead transfer.

What does MOBILER change for industrial shippers?

The MOBILER operation combines long-distance rail transport with road delivery. RCG’s specialised containers transfer horizontally between rail wagons and trucks using hydraulic equipment, eliminating conventional crane handling at suitable loading locations. The service outcome is access to industrial customers without private sidings: after the rail leg, the container can continue to the customer by road.

Hamm shows the equipment working within an established intermodal terminal, rather than only at dedicated industrial sites. RCG says the same containers can support direct customer deliveries or movements within established terminal networks. At Hamm, MOBILER handles the interface between the single wagonload movement and the road leg without a conventional crane step.

The terminal has rail, road and inland waterway access through the Datteln-Hamm Canal, making it trimodal. It handles industrial freight, including chemical products and specialised containers. The salt slag traffic described by RCG uses the rail and road legs; the announcement does not say that any of this cargo travelled by inland vessel.

RCG manages the transport chain for the operation, including three stages:

• Rail haulage through the single wagonload network.
• Transshipment at Maxi Terminal Hamm.
• Road collection and final delivery.

The arrangement leaves RCG in charge of the transport chain across the mode changes. For industrial shippers, the practical consequence is that they do not need a private siding to use rail. RCG gives no tariff comparison with an all-road movement and quantifies neither crane-handling savings nor fuel use or emissions.

RCG also incorporates return loads where possible. That practice allows a container to carry goods in both directions instead of returning empty. The announcement does not state how often the containers carried goods on the reverse leg, so the first-half result cannot establish return-load performance.

The reported 13,800 tonnes measures activity through one German terminal during the first half of 2026. Befesa is the only cargo customer identified and salt slag the only commodity described. The figure does not represent the MOBILER fleet’s total output, the full volume on RCG’s single wagonload network or capacity utilisation across all terminals. The announcement gives no fleet inventory, equipment order, second-half target or regulatory milestone.

For industrial customers without rail sidings, the practical change is a combined rail-and-road service coordinated by one operator, with Hamm providing the transfer point. Whether RCG can sustain the first-half pace depends on fleet availability, repeat demand and loaded return legs, none of which the announcement quantifies.