Rail Cargo Group gets Circus Roncalli rolling again

Since 1^st August, Circus Roncalli has been delighting people of all ages once again as part of its Germany tour. The circus was in Lübeck until 25^th August, where it began to travel across Germany. And it has been making this journey on the eco-friendly railways for years.

In order to transport its 1,200 tonnes of circus equipment, the circus relies on the Rail Cargo Group’s bespoke carrier and logistics services.

Roncalli relies on the railways

Circus Roncalli was founded in Vienna by Bernhard Paul in 1976. The circus has been delighting its audiences with its colourful and creative repertoire from the word go, and this has been the cornerstone of the company’s 42 years of success. There are many benefits to it travelling by rail. The long 200km+ distances that the circus needs to travel between each host city would be almost impossible to manage if it travelled by road. Roncalli’s advance party is ready and waiting at the destination station and gets to work right away on unloading and shunting the old and lovingly restored wagons. Circus Roncalli is one of the last few circus and performing arts companies that still relies on the railways for its logistics needs and places great value on this traditional means of transport. Circus Roncalli is still extremely popular and is travelling across Germany on its “Storyteller: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” tour. From Lübeck (01/08 – 25/08/2019), Hannover (30/08 – 06/10/2019), Munich (17/10 – 17/11/2019) and Bremen (23/11 – 15/12/2019).

1,200 tonnes of circus spread over 700 metres

Rail Cargo Logistics – Germany has rolled out 50 biaxial flat wagons in order to transport the circus to each of the various performance locations for the entire duration of the tour, which lasts several months. More than 80 wooden circus and performing arts wagons from Bernhard Paul’s collection, diverse equipment such as fences and tent tarpaulins as well as small vehicles are transported on 700-metre long block trains with a total weight of around 1,200 tonnes. The charter train carrying the Circus Roncalli equipment will be brought from Lübeck to Hannover overnight on 26^th-27^th August. In the morning, the Roncalli logistics team can begin unloading. On 8^th October, it’s time for Circus Roncalli to move on to Munich.