Demonstration site #2 : Trieste (Italy)
Trieste, an Italian municipality of 199,311 inhabitants and capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, is strategically located on the Gulf of Trieste, a few kilometers away from the Slovenian border. The Port of Trieste, a key node in the regional logistic chain, experienced a significant rise in railway traffic, handling over 12,000 trains in 2023. As Italy’s leading port for goods traffic and the largest oil port in the Mediterranean, Trieste is a crucial link in the European TEN-T Mediterranean and Adriatic-Baltic corridors. The port’s railway network, integrated with the national and international network, allows all docks to be served directly by tracks, with the possibility of shunting and/or composing trains directly at the various terminals. Adriafer (ADF), a subsidiary of the Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea (PNAEAS), manages the port’s critical rail « last mile » operations.
The use case in Trieste focuses on improving interoperability and operational coordination between maritime, rail, and last-mile logistics to enhance real-time management of port shunting operations. The key objective is to enable more agile and data-driven responses to disruptions and delays in vessel and train arrivals, with an emphasis on reducing reaction times and improving resource allocation efficiency. The implementation of new communication services and dynamic schedule adjustments through the MTM system aims for a 10% increase in shunting operation efficiency and a 15% reduction in reaction time in the event of a late vessel or train. Adriafer (ADF), the port’s shunting manager, will lead the deployment of a collaborative digital platform that integrates and processes operational data from multiple sources. The platform will feature simulation and forecasting capabilities using digital twins and AI to model multimodal traffic flows and test scenario-based operational strategies. This will allow ADF and key stakeholders to assess the impact of unexpected disruptions and make collaborative decisions.
The main beneficiaries are the sole manager of the shunting activities (ADF) and the port authority (PNAEAS). Other organisations will also be involved and benefit from the project results: RFI, the rail infrastructure operator; TMT Terminal and SAMER&Co. Shipping, 2 container terminal managers and Alpe Adria, a logistics company (MTO) specialised in coordinated road, rail and sea transport.
