“Good news for a militarily stronger Europe”, wrote the Dutch infrastructure state secretary Annet Bertram on LinkedIn. “All nine member states that are members of the ‘North Sea Baltic’, a rail freight corridor that runs from the North Sea ports to the Baltic states, have signed a new ‘joint declaration’. This is about cooperation and improvement of rail transport along this connection.”

Military mobility has been added to this declaration – meaning that “Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden want to work more closely together in the field of military transport”, says Bertram. “This allows military trains to run quickly and unhindered on this connection if necessary. The need for this is great, given the current geopolitical situation.”

Experts on military mobility from the involved countries have also spoken to each other, allowing for more far-reaching collaboration and knowledge sharing.

The Netherlands places great importance on international coordination for military purposes, highlights the state secretary. “For example, these transports on the railways must be given priority if they are urgent, to prevent a train with tanks, for example, from being forced to wait until there is space. Rail yards are also being adapted to make them more suitable for military trains.”

Dutch Defence deals with Deutsche Bahn

Simultaneously, the Dutch Ministry of Defence has concluded a military mobility deal with Deutsche Bahn, RailFreight.com’s sister publication SpoorPro reports. As part of the agreement, the Ministry recently acquired two wagons for personnel travelling with military transports to secure and inspect them.

For military rail transport, dedicated military escort wagons are provided for personnel who travel alongside to secure the cargo. These carriages offer basic amenities, including seating areas and a restaurant.

The Dutch Ministry of Defence states that these wagons are suitable for use across Europe. They can be made available for military transport within ten days, after which they are transported by locomotive to the required location.

LTG Cargo gets NATO greenlight

On the other end of the North Sea – Baltic Corridor, the Lithuanian rail freight operator LTG Cargo is now permitted to participate directly as a supplier in NATO procurement procedures.

“LTG Cargo has been a trusted logistics partner to NATO allies for nearly a decade, but until now we have carried out shipments through cooperation with other European carriers”, explained Eglė Šimė, CEO of LTG Cargo. “From now on, we have the opportunity to work directly to support military mobility.”

“Over the past four years, we have increased the volume of military trains we transport by as much as 70 percent. We possess specific expertise and experience and are ready to strengthen our participation in allied rotations to help ensure the security of the entire region”, Šimė continued.

“The aim of the exoskeletons trial is to get as many employees as possible to try them out, and their personal experiences and opinions will be assessed”, LTG said. The initiative will involve employees from different LTG Groups: the freight division LTG Cargo, the infrastructure manager LTG Infra, the passenger division LTG Link and the Railway Construction Centre.

The move into the Ukrainian rolling stock market could be seen as a surprise. Earlier reports from Ukraine suggested that the wagon lease market is oversaturated, with rental prices for a wagon between two and four euros per day.

Yet, LTG Cargo is positive. “Looking ahead, we view the Ukrainian market with a long-term perspective. The rolling stock in the country is worn out and has suffered significant damage due to the war. Ukraine’s reconstruction will undoubtedly require robust rail logistics and rolling stock”, a company representative explains.

Wagons and shunting locomotives

The head of LTG Cargo Ukraine, Saulius Stasiūnas, went on to explain that rolling stock in the country is needed. “At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, freight traffic fell by half – from 314 million tonnes in 2021 to 151 million tonnes in 2022 – but in recent years it has been gradually increasing.”

“The industry in the country has adapted and is operating, so rolling stock is needed for freight transport and work at terminals. Most of the wagons we plan to lease are covered wagons, which can be used to transport various cargoes, from construction materials to food products, and platforms for transporting containers.”

The majority of LTG Cargo Ukraine’s wagons are already leased, and discussions are currently underway regarding the leasing of shunting locomotives of type ChME3. Those have been modernised in Vilnius last autumn.

Future expansion

LTG Cargo Ukraine plans to expand its rolling stock fleet to better serve Ukrainian businesses, says LTG Cargo. Over the next two years, the company will acquire an additional 120 wagons and it expects to add 2M62K mainline locomotives to its fleet. Furthermore, the arrival of new electric locomotives in Lithuania could also lead to the addition of Siemens diesel locomotives to LTG Cargo Ukraine’s fleet.

The portfolio of LTG Cargo Ukraine’s customers for freight forwarding services is now managed by LTG Cargo Polska, LTG Cargo’s Polish subsidiary.

“We understand the role of the Lithuanian railway infrastructure in ensuring military mobility and preparation for the country’s defense – it is a special element that ensures the redeployment of forces”, commented Egidijus Lazauskas, CEO of the LTG Group.

“LTG Cargo has accumulated experience in project transportation, transporting military equipment and soldiers of NATO allies both in Lithuania and on international routes.”

The King’s Strike

During the so-called “King’s Strike 2025” exercise, LTG Cargo transported military equipment, but there were also passenger wagons attached to the train. Some of the participating soldiers travelled on board the train.

The exercise has provided LTG Cargo with valuable experience, its CEO Eglė Šimė said. Šimė added that the railways are important transport lines for the arrival of NATO troops to the Baltic region, particularly due to their ability to transport large amounts of equipment and personnel quickly.

Biofuel HVO

Besides the military exercise, LTG Cargo embarked on a sustainability adventure. Two of the company’s locomotives will run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) for the coming 18 months. HVO is widely seen as a more environmentally friendly alternative to diesel, with claimed emission reductions of around 90%.

LTG Cargo is already running a shunting locomotive on HVO, and a Siemens mainline locomotive will join the pilot in a few months.

The operator hails HVO100, the type of HVO that it will be testing, as completely free from fossil fuels. It is supposed to be completely sourced from renewable raw materials, such as cooking oil and animal fats.

From Russia’ GTT to the European Vehicle Register

Traditionally, rail freight services in the Baltics relied on the Russian GTT system, which included sharing data on rolling stock and cargo to the Kremlin. However, a new platform to register broad-gauge platform wagons to the European Vehicle Register now makes this procedure unnecessary. A test for this new type of service was launched at the beginning of 2024.

“It is the first time in the history of the restored Independence of Lithuania, when a train moves in the Baltic States based on the data of European Vehicle Register, based on the European certificate of Entities in Charge of Maintenance and – the most important! – without providing any redundant data to the Russian systems”, said the CRO of Lithuanian Railways Gediminas Seckus.

These kinds of transport services made up over 20 per cent of LTG Cargo’s total transport share in 2023 and, with the construction of Rail Baltica, the demand is expected to grow. The new 200 gondola wagons are not the only fleet upgrade undertaken by the company. Last year, it placed an order for 500 wagons suitable for grain transportation, with 300 to be delivered before the end of the year.

Nevertheless, containers will not be safe from price increases: “From the beginning of next year, the base rates for the import and export of goods from the port of Klaipėda in containers will increase (20 per cent) and for the transportation of empty wagons on this route (15 per cent). Rates for local transportation, import and export from domestic stations will increase by 6 to 10 per cent”, LTG Cargo says.

Other service fees, such as freight wagon leases and freight storage, will grow by an average of 10 per cent. Shunting services will be subject to a 20 per cent hike.

Kaliningrad

The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which relies on transit through Lithuania for its rail freight logistics, will see its expenses grow as well. “Base rates for cargo transportation in transit will increase by 10 per cent, and for container transportation in transit – by 20 per cent”, says LTG Cargo.

“The private fleet of LTG Cargo will be used in two ways: by transferring wagons on long-term lease and by providing wagons for one-off transports”, LTG Cargo said in a statement. Most of the wagons, about 90 per cent, will be used for long-term lease, while the remaining 10 per cent will be deployed for one-off transport. “These changes only affect the wagon fleet managed by LTG Cargo. Wagons shared by railway administrations of other countries will continue to run on the Lithuanian railway network”, the company concluded.

Other than grain wagons, the company is purchasing semi-wagons to expand the transportation of bulk and water-resistant goods. For these new wagons, LTG signed contracts with two Ukrainian suppliers: Kryukovsky Railway Car Building Works and the mechanical plant Karpaty.

Lithuania-Ukraine stronger relationship

In 2023, LTG Cargo faced dropping volumes resulting from the limited entry of Russian cargo. Despite the drop in revenue, at the end of May LTG announced the replacement of their locomotive safety systems company from the Russian KLUB-U to the Ukrainian SRPA Impulse, paving the way for wider collaboration between the countries. However, the new grain wagons are not planned to be used to transport grain from Ukraine, as clarified by LTG.