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METRANS’ new connection to Arad aims to boost connectivity with Constanta port

Dennis van der Laan — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 08:42:38 +0000

Czech rail freight operator METRANS is launching a new intra-Romanian connection. Freight trains will soon be running between the Afluent Arad terminal in the west of Romania and the Yusen terminal in Bucharest. It “will open up new possibilities for efficient transport between Romania and Europe”, METRANS says, especially when it comes to the port of Constanta.
“This step is important not only for our company, but also for the entire Romanian market, which will now be fully connected to key ports and terminals in Central and Western Europe as well as in the Adriatic”, METRANS comments on its new Romanian connection.

‘Cargo from Middle Corridor would be a nice surprise’

METRANS explains to RailFreight.com that the main goal of the Bucharest – Arad connection is to improve connectivity within Romania. The operator also hopes to consolidate freight from the port of Constanta. An additional benefit would be to capture some Middle Corridor freight as well, but “that would be a nice surprise”, the company explains.

From the Arad terminal, transport can continue to METRANS’ Budapest Csepel terminal, which has forward connections to ports like Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Rotterdam and Koper and Rijeka. “This new connection also provides opportunities for transport either from European hinterland destinations to the port of Constanta or vice versa”, adds METRANS.

Romania opens its way for licensed Ukrainian grain

Chengfan Zhao — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 10:29:35 +0000

Romania will keep its border open for grain imported from Ukraine with additional measures. Ukrainian grain is currently facing an export crisis as neighbouring countries such as Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia decided to ban the import of Ukrainian grain on 15 September unilaterally.

“Our help is to help this grain transit,” Marcel Ciolacu, Romanian Prime Minister, told Romanian media Digi24 yesterday. Import and export of grain between Ukraine and Romania are still possible with a special licensing system. The licensing system resulted from concerns for the interests of Romanian farmers. Florin Barbu, Romanian Agriculture Minister, said on 20 September that Romania will work with Ukraine over the following 30 days for this grain export control plan. Barbu said the licence will only be issued for stock replenishment purposes dedicated to farmers and food processors. The licensed grain will be able to use the port of Constanta port to reach other markets.

Same neighbour but different stories

Unlike Romania, other neighbouring countries treated the Ukrainian grain export issue more cautiously, deviating from the European Commission’s decision. The European Commission introduced new measures to try and ensure a stable flow of Ukrainian agricultural products to the rest of the Union without disruptions for the farmers of Kyiv’s neighbouring countries. The first measure entails that all existing initiatives, including the ban on Ukrainian grain imports, would expire on Friday, 15 September. However, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia decided to extend it unilaterally. As a countermove, Ukraine is ready to sue the three countries at the World Trade Organisation, an initiative that was already announced at the beginning of September.

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Several Central Asian destinations become part of RCG’s network

Nikos Papatolios — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 09:58:54 +0000

ÖBB Rail Cargo Group is expanding its Eurasian network, focusing on Central Asia. The Austria-based company now serves several markets in the region, offering two different connection routes that follow the Middle Corridor.
With the motto “We bring Central Europe and Central Asia closer,” RCG will utilise its existing Central and Southeastern European network, which will now also extend to the Middle Corridor. The focal point of this latest expansion is not China but Central Asia. Trade between Europe and this geographical region is gradually picking up pace, and the Middle Corridor transforms into a route mainly absorbing these volumes and less those directed to China.

According to RCG, the latest network additions include destinations in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The company will operate sixteen regular intermodal services to and from those destinations with a transit time of around 30 days. “A key benefit of these transport solutions is that they safely and reliably transit through non-sanctioned countries, allowing customers to obtain transport insurance,” commented RCG.

Two alternatives

When thinking about the Middle Corridor, the route that also includes a Black Sea leg between the port of Constanta and the port of Poti comes first in mind since it is the most famous and used. RCG will make no exception in this sense since one of the alternatives that it will use is connecting to Almaty and Astana in Kazakhstan, Ashgabat in Turkmenistan and Tashkent in Uzbekistan via Constanta, Poti and Baku.

However, the company, which is well-established in Turkey, will also use Istanbul as a gateway for a route that will use rail more than the other one. Consequently, the same destinations can be reached by rail via Turkey, Georgia (Tbilisi), Armenia (Yerevan) and Azerbaijan (Baku). RCG serves the Istanbul area and specifically terminals in Kapikule, Cerkezkoey and Köseköy quite frequently while it also has the partners and technical knowledge for cargo forwarding towards the Caucasus and further.

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Romania is not well known in China, this company wants to change that

Majorie van Leijen — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 04:15:57 +0000

BRAND STORY – Romania is one of the countries with a gateway on the Middle Corridor. In the port of Constanta, cargo from the east is further distributed in Europe. The potential of Romania is not very well known in China, where the regular route via Poland and Belarus is still preferred. But this Chinese logistics firm nevertheless signed an agreement with the largest railway company in Romania, to explore what it can bring to the industry.
In December, TIEDADA Supply Chain Management Co and GRAMPET GROUP signed an agreement to jointly develop the new route of the China-Europe Railway Express(CR Express). The first multimodal route would be from China to Bucharest via the northern route, but eventually the parties want to explore the multimodal route via the Black Sea. We talked with Frank Shao, CEO of TIEDADA and asked him why he believes in the route on the Middle Corridor.

Romania was incorporated in the Trans-Caspian Corridor in 2018. Where are we now?

After the war broke out last year, Romania found business opportunities from the crisis. Since then, they wanted to change the status quo of the Middle Corridor. They also really wanted to establish a long-term and stable strategic cooperative relationship with Chinese railway freight forwarders and participate in the future business opportunity in Southeast Europe.

How familiar is the Chinese logistics industry with the option of going through Constanta?

Chinese freight forwarders and shippers are not familiar with the port of Constanta for entering the EU. However, Tietada believes that the port of Constanta is a good choice to effectively radiate to Central and Eastern Europe. It is close to the countries such as Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia, as well as a good transit port for traffic to and from Ukraine. It has a broad future.

What are the benefits of using the port of Constanta as a gateway to Europe for Chinese traffic?

Last year, the transit through Turkey accounted for a large proportion of the delays on the Middle Corridor. The direct route from the ports of Batumi and Poti in Azerbaijan to the Port of Constanta can bypass the tedious process of land transportation and effectively guarantee good transit times.

The Port of Constanta has also been criticised a lot. There has been a lot of congestion, and the railway network is not up to the highest standards. What can you say about the situation today?

There is still no obvious change in this situation, but we have to continue to build this alternative and make it viable. The price of shipping is the biggest obstacle to this route at the moment, but I think the route from China to Central and Eastern Europe will also have a lot of vitality in the long run.

What remains to be done to maximise the potential of Romania on the corridor?

1. Focus on the transportation capacity along the route, especially the capacity of ships in the Caspian Sea

2. Focus on the integration of customs documents and customs affairs. The Northern Route, which spans multiple countries, remains efficient thanks to the customs agreement that integrates customs clearance

3. Consensus of countries along the route. The establishment of the Middle Corridor requires the support and policy inclination of all countries, as well as the contribution of a strong regional alliance

4. Schengen status for Romania. Once this is established, the transport of goods through Romania into Europe will be more efficient, and the volumes will grow

New line Constanta-Budapest speeds up delivery from Guiyang

Nikos Papatolios — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 09:18:46 +0000

The railway line from the Romanian port of Constanta to the Hungarian capital Budapest opened in early June, operated by Grampet Group. The opening was a fact with the first shipment from Guiyang in China to Europe and is part of the Middle Corridor. The new line shows Romania’s determination to become an emerging gateway to Central Europe.
This was reported by Romanian media site BURSA.ro. The shipment departed from Guiyang, loaded with 41 40-foot containers, and was routed through China to Kazakhstan, headed for the Caspian Sea. It crossed the sea to Azerbaijan and proceeded by train to the Georgian port on the Black Sea. Here, it crossed the sea to Romania, and it was finally delivered to Hungary.

Grampet

Grampet Group, together with Romanian Railway Group and Train Hungary, organised the second half of the journey: Constanta – Bucharest – Craiova – Timişoara – Chur Curtici – Budapest section.

Grampet Group is the first European company to join the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor Association (TITR), which oversees the operation of the entire Middle Corridor. In September 2018, the group officially joined TITR. In June 2019, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan’s state shipping group NMSC Kazmortransflot LLP to open regular connections between the ports of Constanta and Batumi. In the company’s view, joining TITR is a historic step for Romania to strengthen its position on the international logistics map.

The company said it was working on addressing some of the logistical challenges along the way, such as transit times between Constanta-Kurtic and stopovers at Kurtic customs. “Our service is able to transport goods from the Port of Constanta to Budapest within 48 hours”, the company emphasised. “In the current economic and geopolitical context, the Middle Corridor is a priority, and I hope Romania can take full advantage of it.”

Port of Constanta

The Port of Constanta is located on the coast of the Black Sea and is an important node for goods on the Middle Corridor to enter Europe. The port is facing severe congestion due to surging cargo volumes. For the smooth distribution of goods to all parts of Europe, many companies are researching related solutions.

For example, the Romanian branch of COSCO Shipping is closely watching the possibility of opening a container service between the Greek port of Piraeus and its Romanian terminal. The head of the company said that the rail transport service to and from Piraeus will simplify container transport, with trains arriving in two or three days and further connecting to Bucharest, Ploiești or Arad terminals, among others.

This article was originally published on RailFreight.cn, our Chinese sister publication.

Romanian rail upgrade gets 226 million Euros from EC

Simon Weedy — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 09:00:51 +0000

The European Commission (EC) is providing Romania with more than 226 million Euros to carry out extensive repairs to a line providing a vital freight link between the capital Bucharest and the Black Sea port city of Constanta. When completed, the line will be able to accommodate more than 20 million tonnes of freight a year.

Building on an existing investment of 475 million Euros by the Romanian government, the 226.2 million Euros funding will enable repairs in two sections covering 80 kilometres, from Bucharest North to Bucharest Baneasa, and from the inland city of Fetesti, which sits on the River Danube, to Constanta.

Ten-T Corridor

The route is part of the Rhine-Danube Ten-T Corridor, one of nine key corridors in the EC’s Trans-European Transport Network project, and forms part of the EU’s Transport Operational Programme period which covered 2007-2013. Shifting freight from road onto rail between the Romanian capital and the coast is vital, says the EC.

Corina Cretu, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, said: “This decision is in line with European Commission policy regarding retrospective financing projects in order to increase the absorption of European funds in Romania. The European Commission takes part in the initial expenses that the Romanian state has made for the rehabilitation of the railway between the capital and Constanta.”

Retrospective projects

Following the completion of the works, rail freight transport on the route is estimated to reach up to 21 million tonnes annually. Currently the Bucharest-Constanta section can support freight trains travelling at up to 120 km/h.

Ms Cretu added that the EU had also approved retrospective projects in the Romanian transport infrastructure worth around 450 million Euros that will receive financing from both its Cohesion Fund, which provides monies for environmental and trans-European network projects, and the European Fund for Regional Development.