Baggage cart

Baggage carts, luggage trolleys or trolleys are small vehicles pushed by travelers (human-powered) to carry individual luggage, mostly suitcases. There are two major sizes: One for big luggage and one for small luggage. Carts have usually two parts for carrying luggage: A small section (basket) for carry on luggage at the same level as the handle, and a lowered large section for suitcases a small and large bags.

The baggage cart was invented by supermarket entrepreneur and inventor of the shopping cart Sylvan Goldman.

The carts are provided in airports, large bus stations, hotels, or train stations for transporting luggage and may be free of charge. They are sometimes owned by the operator of the establishment. In some facilities carts may be provided by a contractor such as Smarte Carte for a rental fee. Baggage carts are usually built out of steel and equipped with three or four wheels. For safety reasons, they are generally fitted with a brake. Usually, a handle has to be pushed down in order to move the cart, however, in some cases, such as London airports, the handle activates the brake. Very few carts, e.g. in developing countries such as Sri Lanka, do not have this feature.

Where a charge is made, this can be either a deposit, which is returned automatically when the cart is returned; or a rental fee can be charged.

Precautions against theft
Often the car must be disconnected by means of a coin from the other cars in the depot. This coin deposit system is designed to ensure that the cart is returned to a depot after use.

In order to curb the enormous theft rate of luggage trolleys, an electronic security system was installed at Frankfurt Central Station as part of a pilot project in 2006 . When leaving the station area with the luggage cart it was immediately blocked. You could drive freely in permitted zones (eg taxi rank). If you crossed over a red mark, the car could not be pushed further and must be unlocked by the station staff by remote control.

History
The express goods transported in separate railway carriages , the luggage sent by the traveler and other objects transported by train were formerly transported by railway employees between the train and the luggage storage or goods shed with luggage carts .

After the theft rate had not declined despite immobilizer, the Deutsche Bahn decided in 2010 to abolish the luggage car at the stations Frankfurt am Main , Hamburg , Augsburg , Göttingen and Berlin initially because 99 percent of travelers no longer needed this service. The Swiss Federal Railways decided in 2013 the abolition of luggage carts, except in the airport stations Kloten and Geneva. They explained that most travelers today use trolleys and that the management is expensive.

Important manufacturers
The world’s largest manufacturer of luggage trolleys is Wanzl from the Swabian town of Leipheim . There are also other manufacturers such as Expresso from Kassel.

Parts
In airports, boarding baggage cart parts are:

Brake and tow arm latch
Brake assembly
Bumpers
Curtains
Hand holds
Pintle hook
Tongue

Baggage tugs
A baggage tug is an electric vehicle used by the airline industry to tow baggage carts to and from the terminal/cargo facility and the aircraft.

Source from Wikipedia