Lineas’ race to 100 million

In May 2023, the company secured 20 million euros from French investment fund Argos Wityu, which owns 55 per cent of Lineas. Moreover, in January 2024, there was a second capital injection of 50 million euros. Since then, Lineas had been looking for private investors to fill in the final gap of 50 million euros. By receiving 46 million euros from the Wallonia and Flanders regions, it looks like the Belgian company, which claims to be Europe’s largest private rail freight operator, is back to a healthy state. However, the fact that the two Belgian regions are getting involved means Lineas couldn’t raise enough private capital to keep the company afloat.

The Flanders region will provide a loan of 17,5 million euros, which can be increased to 18 million euros through its investment fund PMV, as The Brussels Times specified. The Wallonia region is injecting an additional eight million euros via Wallonie Entreprendre. The remaining 20 million euros will be put on the table by KBC and Belfius, two Belgian banks. All these financial injections amount to 96 million euros, which is quite close to the 100 needed by the company.

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Plans for investment

Belgium/Flanders and the Netherlands will invest two million each to develop the Ghent-Terneuzen canal zone. Moreover, they hope that EU support will not be missing from their endeavour. Apart from the initial plans to enhance North Sea Port’s connectivity with rail freight corridors (RFCs), the parties concerned have three more infrastructure projects in mind.

They want to launch a new connection on the canal’s east bank between the Dutch town Axel and the Belgian town Zelzate, a new south-east curve in the track east of the Sluiskil bridge, and they also want to extend and open up to the north of the rail bundle at the Kluizendok ( ‘Zandeken’). The new connection on the east bank between Axel and Zelzate could provide more capacities to the preexisting rail freight network. Moreover, such a rail link could also reduce traffic via the Sluiskil Bridge, Terneuzen and Wondelgem (Ghent), relieving these current bottlenecks.

The new south-east curve in the Sluiskil Bridge’s track ensures trains to and from the Dutch Axelse Vlakte (between Terneuzen and Zelzate) can enter the European railway network directly and faster. Finally, developments on the track bundle at Kluizendok could also increase rail capacities on the Canal’s western bank and improve the port area’s logistics.

North Sea Port

Being included in one of the European Rail Freight Corridors (RFC’s) means being part of the prioritised railway network in Europe. The port is now part of three of these corridors. Apart from the North-Sea Baltic (NSB) corridor, the North Sea Port was already included in the Rhine-Alpine corridor and the North Sea-Mediterranean corridor.

The NSB corridor connects the most important North Sea ports with Central Europe and the Baltic States, providing a rail bridge between eastern and western Europe. It runs from Belgium and the Netherlands via Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to Estonia. In Poland, the corridor connects to the New Silk Road.

Joining the third corridor is good news for the port and the port companies since optimal accessibility is vital for its growth. “Better rail access for North Sea Port is in line with the Belgian government’s ambition to double the volume of freight transport by rail by 2030”, said Georges Gilkinet. His Flemish counterpart, Lydia Peeters, also mentioned that “from Flanders, we only applaud an initiative like Rail Ghent-Terneuzen. It is an example of how we can achieve our modal shift objectives through cooperation. A shift towards the railways reduces freight traffic by road, but it also provides a logistical and economic boost, with ultimately a positive impact on our air quality and climate”.

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• North-Sea Baltic corridor now includes North Sea Port