The two new links run on fixed timetables. RCG also offers first and last mile services, forwarding services such as transshipment, warehousing and professional customs clearance. “Freight customers can easily and flexibly book conventional freight wagons or intermodal units such as containers or swap bodies onto the train connections”, the company writes.

Various industries benefit

“The further development of our TransFER connections shows how consistently we align our services with the needs of our customers”, says ÖBB Rail Cargo Group CCO Christoph Grasl. “With new direct and reliable connections, we are improving access to key logistics hubs and creating attractive conditions for the switch to rail.”

RCG explains that these services are particularly beneficial for the chemical, steel, and paper industries. “These sectors gain the most from the enhanced transportation options and simultaneously drive the demand for our services”, the operator says, while pointing out that rail services offer higher transport capacity and reliability than the road, especially for long distances.

The Duisburg-Rotterdam service offers a direct link, initially with three round trips per week, between the Rheinkamp logistics hub near Duisburg and the major terminals of the Port of Rotterdam (Waalhaven, Europoort, Botlek, Pernis, and Maasvlakte). By connecting to Duisburg, one of Europe’s most significant inland ports, the service allows for efficient onward rail transport to destinations in Europe, says RCG.

The Salzburg-Offenbach link runs twice weekly, connecting the Austrian railway hub to an important logistics and industrial center in the Rhine-Main area near Frankfurt am Main.

Romanian connection

RCG is also changing its Romania service offering. The previous connection between Genk (Belgium) and Curtici, on the border with Hungary, will now be a Liège–Curtici link and operate with seven weekly round trips. Liege offers strong connections to the North Sea ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Zeebrugge and serves as a powerful hub between seaports, industrial centres and inland markets, RCG explains.

At the same time, RCG is introducing a new Duisburg–Curtici connection with three weekly round trips. “This means that traffic to Curtici will now be consolidated via both Liège and Duisburg”, the operator says.

For Kombiverkehr, the terminal plays an important role in transport operations. “Over 20 countries can be reached by rail from Duisburg. This makes the continental terminal at the Port of Ruhrort an important gateway hub in our European network”, explained Heiko Krebs, Managing Director of Kombiverkehr.

“We currently account for approximately 95% of the traffic. In the future, we will be able to contribute our production technology expertise much more directly than was previously the case, and of course, non-discriminatory access to the terminal infrastructure will continue to be guaranteed for third parties.”

Kombiverkehr is already working on new technical developments in the terminal in cooperation with its current owner. That should secure the viability of the terminal for future operations, the company explains.

PKV terminal

Built in the early 1990s and operational since 1992, the PKV terminal has been managed by Deutsche Umschlaggesellschaft Schiene-Straße mbH (DUSS) since 2003. Kombiverkehr KG holds a 12.5% stake in DUSS.

The PKV terminal spans approximately 85,000 square meters and features three cranes across eight tracks and one track dedicated to reach stacker operations. This setup, according to Kombiverkehr, ensures the swift transfer of intermodal loading units between trains, or from road to rail. From autumn 2025 onwards, a newly acquired crane system with a specialised spreader will be capable of handling tank containers weighing up to 75 tonnes.

The terminal’s infrastructure at the Port of Duisburg also includes parking areas outside the crane runway, along with two hazardous goods trays for the temporary storage of hazardous materials related to transport. The facility is designed to handle approximately 200,000 units annually.

The launch of the new initiative is just the latest initiative for DGT in the China-Europe rail freight landscape. The terminal, inaugurated less than a year ago, has already been operating eastbound and westbound China-Europe services. Moreover, just a few days ago, Duisport signed the aforementioned Memorandum of Understanding with Xi’An International Inland Port Group and DB Cargo Eurasia. Last but not least, a new rail connection between Xi’An and Duisburg was launched by Ziegler Group.

“We take care of all administrative and customs aspects and can collect goods anywhere in China”, Ziegler explains. The logistics company has connections with important industrial centres in China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. It collects freight from those places and then puts them on a train in Xi’an. “In addition, our tracking system ensures full transparency regarding the estimated time of arrival.”

Addressing the French media at the recent Semaine du Transport et de la Logistique (SITL) exhibition and conference event in Paris, Andreas Mager, the company’s director of Rail Services, said it will mark the first time that Contargo has offered continental rail links that are not directly connected to a port. “For us, it represents an important step in our development of the French market,” he added.

Bringing key hubs together

The DDS will link Dourges to the Duisburg DIT terminal in the Ruhr region of Germany, with three return trips per week. It will also offer scope for connections to Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and China.

As for the PFS, it will offer two routes from Dourges to the towns of Krzewie and Kutno, both situated near Łódź, in central Poland. The first will be a direct link with one return trip per week initially – the frequency could then be doubled depending on volumes – while the second will require an intermediate stop at the Duisburg DIT terminal. The section between the DIT and Kutno will be operated via a partner link on the PCC network with five return trips weekly.

Overall, the transit time between Lodz and Dourges is between 45 and 48 hours. While there is reportedly a very strong demand for East-West freight capacity from customers in the retail, chemicals, furniture, and cosmetics sectors, the challenge facing Contargo will be finding volumes on the eastbound leg.

More to come?

In January 2024, the Mannheim-based company became a shareholder in Dutch rail operator DistriRail B.V., which has its home base at the Port of Rotterdam. At the time, the now former Contargo managing director, Thomas Löffler, said that the company, together with its co-partners, was planning to significantly increase the number of return trips on the Rotterdam-Duisburg connection in the coming years.

Six trains move the cargo every week. This service “represents the best example of our daily work”, said Mercitalia Logistics CEO Sabrina De Filippis. Putting Colgate-Palmolive products on the rail removes around 20,000 trucks from European roads every year. The Pomezia-Duisburg is a key route for the Mercitalia cluster, going from 2,000 shipments to 10,000 over the past 15 years.

Wascosa has signed up LTG Cargo Polska as a client for its stock of NiKRASA 3.0 cradles. The parties say the deal will enhance their cooperation and boost Baltic trade. The focus of the development is intermodal rail freight between Lithuania and Western Europe. This partnership will mainly use the transport corridor between Kaunas in Lithuania and Duisburg in Germany, taking trucks off the busy roads.

Modal shift to rail

“Germany is one of Lithuania’s largest trading partners, underscoring the importance of the Kaunas-Duisburg intermodal connection,” explained Wascosa in a formal statement. LTG Cargo Polska, which is a subsidiary of the Lithuanian rail freight company LTG Cargo, has a long-term strategy to strengthen its position as the Baltic States’ gateway to Western Europe. The company is actively engaged in expanding intermodal transport capability, not least for commercial advantage, but also to offer efficient and environmentally friendly logistics options.

As reported by our sister service, WorldCargo News, Wascosa has been marketing the NiKRASA system since signing a deal with the manufacturers earlier this year. “This innovation supports the growing demand for combined transport,” says Wascosa, the Swiss-established rail freight rolling stock company, currently celebrating its 60th anniversary year. “The cooperation also aligns with LTG Cargo’s broader sustainability strategy, which has already led to significant achievements: in 2023, intermodal shipments prevented 66,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions.”

Third generation is even more versatile

Iris Hilb, CEO of Wascosa AG, is enthusiastic about the latest agreement with LTG. “Wascosa AG is equally committed to driving innovation in rail freight logistics,” she said. “The NiKRASA solution fits perfectly into our market strategy, providing value to customers while supporting the ongoing shift towards rail transport. According to estimates by the leasing company, around 90% of Europe’s truck fleet is non-craneable. Wascosa further says that the NiKRASA system enables trailers to be loaded from road to rail in just two minutes without requiring changes to existing terminal or rail infrastructure.

The NiKRASA system for trailer handling was developed by TX Logistics, a subsidiary of Mercitalia Group. The third and more flexible iteration of the system was released just over two years ago, At the time, Wascosa entered into a marketing deal, which ultimately saw the Swiss leasing company purchase 150 units. The agreement allows non-craneable semi-trailers to be loaded onto rail wagons quickly and easily. LTG claims to be the only rail carrier with the necessary licenses to operate in both Poland and the Baltics.

Data for the first half of 2024 shows that the growth is tangible, especially compared to the same period of the last three years (2021-2023). RailFreight.com focused on some insights concerning the border crossing of Malaszewicze and the hub of Duisburg to make a comparison with previous years. It should be noted that the findings are based on ERAI’s data, which monitors traffic development along the traditional Northern route.

The European gateway

Malaszewicze’s significance regarding Silk Road traffic is broadly known since the border crossing has been Europe’s busiest for several years. With sanctions hitting the Russian route, traffic and volumes declined significantly from 2022 onwards. Nevertheless, it appears that the Polish border point has experienced the busiest H1 of a year since 2021 when it comes to transported TEUs and cargo tons.

Specifically, for H1 2024, Malaszewicze has seen 193,490 TEUs transiting through its infrastructure, 77 per cent higher than in H1 2023 (109,086 TEUs). The difference is not so big regarding H1 2022 (165,772 TEUs), considering that the war’s impact was not yet felt and traffic was still recovering after the pandemic. However, it is higher than H1 2021 (79,432) when Covid’s impact and traffic bottlenecks were still heavily affecting services.

Transported tons via Malaszewicze have also grown considerably. With approximately 1,2 million transported tons, H1 2024 was the busiest in four years, marginally higher compared to 2021 and 2022, but almost doubled compared to 2023.

The key hub

Key European Silk Road hubs, like Duisburg, rely heavily on traffic entering Europe via Malaszewicze. As a result, growth there should naturally translate into growth for those hubs, too. When looking at Duisburg, for instance, growth is visible but considerably more moderate.

In particular, Duisburg has seen 19,646 TEUs and 128,550 transported tons in H1 2024. Performance in both metrics is lower than in 2021 and 2022 (volumes have been steadily declining between 2021 and 2023); however, it shows signs of recovery compared to H1 2023, with a 79 per cent growth in TEUs and a 77 per cent increase in transported tons. The German hub certainly is not where it stood some years ago, yet it shows positive recovery signs.

Transit times excel

Another metric that was taken into account was the transit times of services, which are steadily low at this point. Specifically, the average transit time for services leaving China and heading to Malaszewicze is nine days, slightly higher compared to H1 2022 and 2023 but considerably lower than in H1 2021.

The same applies to Duisburg, which in H1 2024, sees trains originating from China arriving at its premises after eleven days on average, same as H1 2022, but, again, lower than H1 2021, which was characterised by congestion.

All in all, data provided by ERAI shows that, indeed, traffic via the Russian route is on the rise, confirming reports already from April 2024. The discussion about returning to pre-war levels and the implications this might have could now be more relevant than ever.

European Silk Road Summit 2024

The rebounding Silk Road market will be one of the key topics we will discuss at the European Silk Road Summit 2024, taking place in Vienna on 27-28 November.

Registrations for the yearly event are already open, while the programme, which this year highlights the fast-recovering China-Europe rail market, is shaping up.

The DGT project was launched in 2019. The plan was to build a terminal on Duisport’s former Coal Island that would cover an area of around 235,000 square metres. The project has finalised the first construction phase, meaning that a part of it is fully operational, but a further expansion is approaching.

At the moment, the terminal’s operational area covers a surface of 150,000 square metres. It has six block train tracks (730 metres each) operating and three crane systems serving it. By the end of the expansion, the terminal is expected to serve customers with a capacity of up to 850,000 TEUs annually. Moreover, tracks and cranes are expected to double, reaching 12 and 6 respectively.

China-Europe services right on time

The inauguration of DGT coincided with the arrival of the first China-Europe container train in the facility, signalling the future of the terminal’s operations. The train was operated by RTSB and carried consumer goods. According to the Eurasian railway operator, this service reflects the high demand for rail logistics solutions between China and Europe.

On top of the westbound train, the inaugural day was also marked by the departure of the terminal’s first eastbound train hedging to China and carrying 44 containers. In RTSB’s eyes, Duisburg’s hub role along the Silk Road is expected to grow more with the DGT investment.

European Silk Road Summit 2024

RTSB, the railway operator of the China-Europe service that inaugurated DGT, will be one of the key Silk Road players present at the European Silk Road Summit 2024, taking place in Vienna on 27-28 November.

Registrations for the yearly event are already open, while the programme, which this year highlights the fast-recovering China-Europe rail market, is shaping up.

RCG specifies that Duisburg and Antwerp are important rail logistics hubs, and by connecting them, the rail operator “offers seamless transport to and from Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Italy and the entire Southern and Southeastern European region.” The company has connections from Duisburg that further extend into other regions of Europe.