Multimodal Logistics from Antwerp or Mertert to BettembourgCFL MULTIMODAL

Overview

CFL multimodal is testing eFTI against transport flows it runs every day, which makes this one of the more operationally grounded pilots in the portfolio. The primary corridor is Antwerp to Bettembourg by rail or by road; a second scenario moves goods arriving by barge at Mertert Harbour onto rail for the final leg to Bettembourg. Both may carry dangerous goods, depending on operational availability.

Rather than building a new data source, the pilot exposes transport information that already exists in CFL multimodal’s operational and terminal systems through an internal eFTI platform, and lets Luxembourg’s competent authorities retrieve it through the national eFTI ecosystem. The design question is therefore one of transformation and access: how to map business data held in tributary systems into eFTI datasets, and how authorities query it — including the still-open choice between AS4 and REST APIs.

Lead beneficiary

CFL multimodal, Luxembourg

Countries involved

Luxembourg, Belgium

Transport modes

Road, rail and inland navigation

Main stakeholders

CFL multimodal, with CFL cargo, CFL intermodal and CFL terminals · Luxembourg Ministry of Mobility and Public Works (MMTP) · CTIE · Luxembourg Customs Administration and Police.

eFTI components

eFTI Gate · eFTI Platform · Registry of identifiers. AAP and CA application not included

Timeline

Planning and business analysis from 2025
Architecture and data mapping from 2026
Development and piloting subject to publication of the updated eFTI XSD and the Luxembourg eFTI ecosystem

Status
(summer 2026)

Preparation — conceptual design, documentation and stakeholder alignment
  • Implement a CFL multimodal eFTI platform capable of exposing transport information originating from CFL multimodal operational systems.
  • Validate the exchange and retrieval of transport information through the Luxembourg eFTI ecosystem.
  • Assess the handling of multimodal transport information covering road, rail and inland navigation operations.
  • Validate the exchange and retrieval of dangerous goods information where applicable.
  • Prepare a scalable technical architecture supporting future eFTI deployment and interoperability with European eFTI components.

UC1

Antwerp to Bettembourg by rail: transport information generated in CFL multimodal operational systems, stored and made available through the eFTI platform, and retrieved by competent authorities through the Luxembourg eFTI ecosystem. Cargo may include dangerous goods.

UC2

Antwerp to Bettembourg by road: road transport information managed through CFL multimodal systems, with authorities retrieving transport data through eFTI interfaces. Cargo may include dangerous goods.

UC3

Mertert Harbour to Bettembourg: goods arrive by inland navigation vessel, are transferred to rail and moved to Bettembourg, demonstrating multimodal transport combining inland navigation and rail within Luxembourg.

As of summer 2026 no technical development or pilot execution had taken place; the work so far has been conceptual design, documentation and stakeholder alignment. That phase confirmed the scenarios are feasible — data retrieval, multimodal data handling and authority access workflows — and identified the interactions between eFTI Gate, Registry of Identifiers and eFTI Platforms as the critical elements for implementation.

The main lesson is that data models, query parameters and interfaces have to be defined clearly before development starts.

The main dependency is finalisation of the eFTI XSD specifications, without which economic operators cannot complete their data models, interfaces or integration work.

The team also notes that multimodal, cross-platform scenarios will introduce significant complexity around document aggregation and real-time retrieval, that technical choices such as AS4 versus REST APIs need settling first, and that early benchmarking at European level is essential to avoid duplicated national effort and to keep implementations interoperable.