Volumes along Hupac’s ‘secondary’ axes are also increasing, albeit the numbers are much lower than what is moved via Switzerland. “Transalpine traffic via France and Austria slightly increased (+26.9%, equal to +5,100 consignments)”, the company explained. Non-transalpine traffic almost reached 390,000 road consignments, but the growth rate was not specified.

Once completed, the terminal will be able to handle 44 trains every day, according to FS Logistix. “The infrastructure will consist of 15 tracks at least 740 metres long – 10 dedicated to transhipment operations and five for support – organised into two modules, each equipped with three electric gantry cranes”. The first three cranes delivered are part of Module I. while the remaining three will go to Module II.

Hupac’s investments in Italy

The renewal of the Milano Smistamento terminal mobilised 120 million euros, 67 of which came from the Swiss government. The Helvetic Federation, a key transit hub along Europe’s busiest corridor, is keen on investing in terminals closer to its borders to ensure that more goods cross the country by rail. The investment for the cranes amounted to 31 million euros, FS Logistix specified.

Other than Milan, FS and Hupac are also working on new and renovated terminals in Piacenza and Brescia, two other important industrial hubs in northern Italy. The one in Brescia, which will be called La Piccola Velocità (The Small Speed), will see a joint investment of 60 million euros. For Piacenza, Hupac is upgrading the Le Mose terminal, which has been operating since 2007.

European Cargo Experience

Terminals, terminal equipment and synergies between modalities will be the main topics of the upcoming European Cargo Experience. Organised by RailFreight.com jointly with our sister publications World Cargo News and Project Cargo Journal, the event will bring together leaders from all the sectors of the logistics industry. Find out more about the event here and secure your Early Bird tickets here.

Hupac emphasises Weber’s expertise in logistics, supply chains and organisational development. A quick glance at Weber’s resume reveals that she has long worked in various positions across her 15+ years tenure at UPS. Weber served in management positions for various regions across Europe and headed HR departments.

The Combined Transport (CT) operator says that Weber’s appointment is aimed at further developing CT, expanding sustainable transport solutions and strengthening Hupac’s market position in European intermodal land transport.

Mutual enthusiasm

“I am delighted to welcome Britta Weber to her new role. She has over twenty years of international experience in the logistics industry: she combines a clear strategic vision with strong leadership skills and a deep understanding of our customers’ needs”, commented Hans-Jörg Bertschi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hupac.

For her own part, Weber expresses enthusiasm for her new assignment: “It is a great honour for me to become part of the Hupac Group. Hupac stands for much more than a successful company; it has a clear social mission: sustainable logistics and the consistent shift of transport to rail.”

“I am particularly looking forward to working with the strong management team, whom I hold in high regard for their achievements. With great motivation and enthusiasm, we will successfully shape the next phase of the Group’s development together”, Weber continued.

Stahlhut himself pointed to the importance of teamwork and leadership development during his time at the company. “I am grateful for what we achieved together as a team in a demanding environment,” he said, adding that strengthening the leadership team to manage crises with a high degree of personal responsibility had been a key priority.

Change of the guard

Stahlhut is not the first notable CEO stepping down in the rail freight industry. Sigrid Nikutta, CEO of DB Cargo since 2020, was let go last October and replaced by Bernhard Osburg. Morevoer, Clemens Först announced that, in April, he will resign from his position at the head of Austrian Rail Cargo Group after 10 years. Tomáš Tóth, who spent five years as CEO of the Czech ČD Cargo also resigned due to personal reasons a few months ago. Hopefully, the successors will be able to continue on the path set by their predecessors and improve what is currently a very frail situation for rail freight in Europe.

The upgrade of the Combiconnect terminal was concluded a couple days before Christmas. The Spanish facility is now connected to the standard gauge infrastructure leading to France, creating a seamless connection between the two countries. In total, there was an investment of more than 80 million euros to implement mixed gauge switches, improve security and telecommunications systems and install new gantry cranes.

That is because the Antwerp train provides an opportunity to test the terminal after extensive upgrades and to prepare it for more activity in the coming months. La Llagosta, jointly operated by Hupac and TPNova through their joint venture Combiconnect Barcelona, received a 20 million euro investment.

It will soon feature gantry cranes, OCR gates and advanced IT systems to support rail-road intermodal traffic, according to Hupac. It will also have four 700-metre dual-gauge loading tracks to facilitate operations on both the Iberian gauge and standard gauge networks. Once fully operational, the terminal is expected to play a role as a regional hub within the Barcelona metropolitan area, says Hupac.

Spain-Europe

“The test phase at Barcelona Combiconnect is an important step in bringing this project closer to operational maturity. Our focus is now on validating processes and building a reliable basis for future intermodal services connecting Spain with the European network”, commented Raul Maestro Linares, CEO of TPNOVA Rail & Logistics Services.

Earlier, RailFreight.com reported that the La Llagosta upgrade should lead to a handling capacity of 20 trains per day. In total, the terminal has received 80 million euros worth of investments, which also include 7,5 million euros for a switch project carried out by Voestalpine and 17,4 million euros for security and telecommunications systems.

The Swiss Parliament had decided to extend financial support to the company, owned by Hupac, SBB and BLS, until the end of 2028. However, last spring came the decision of ceasing operation at the end of this year. Now, to add insult to injury, the last convoys run a day earlier than planned. “In its nearly 25-year history, RAlpin has transported over 2 million lorries through Switzerland by rail”, the company noted.

From rolling highway to rail highway?

This is the second rolling highway service ceasing operations this year, after the one between Orbassano, in Italy, and Aiton, in France. The service was halted in August 2023 after a massive landslide closed the main line between France and Italy for over a year and a half. This stoppage led to a halt in public subsidies, which was fatal for the initiative.

With rolling highways, the whole truck is placed onto rail wagons, including the tractor, and trains are equipped with passenger cars for the drivers. This concept now seems to have died out, as there are no longer such services in Europe. On the other hand, there has been a rise in rail highway services, where only the semi-trailers are placed on freight trains and travel without their tractor and driver.

This new type of service requires further equipment, whether at the terminal or in terms of wagons. The main players in this industry are Modalohr, CargoBeamer, VTG, and Helrom. Many new connections of this kind have been launched over the past few years, but this segment still occupies a minor part of the rail freight sector as a whole. However, its contribution to the modal shift are impactful, especially if the number of services continues to grow.

Over 80 million invested in La Llagosta

The La Llagosta terminal has been undergoing a massive upgrade to be connected to the standard gauge network going to France. More specifically, 30 new switches have been implemented (27 for mixed gauge and three for standard gauge) by Voestalpine Railway Systems Jez.

In total, over 80 million euros have been invested in La Llagosta. These include 7,5 million euros for the project carried out by Voestalpine and 17,4 million euros for the security and telecommunications systems. Moreover, 12 million euros for the gantry cranes came from the Hupac-TPNova consortium, as stipulated in the deal awarding them the terminal operations.

RAlpin stated that the rolling highway service, which entails the transport of lorries by rail, is no longer viable despite ongoing financial support, existing demand and good capacity utilisation. On the other hand, the decline of this service was already visible in 2024, when around 10 per cent of the total trains planned had to be cancelled. Things did not improve with the start of 2025, as RAlpin highlighted. In the first quarter of 2025, there was a 20 per cent drop in the number of trains compared to the same period last year: from 1,018 to 794.

A dying concept?

The past couple of weeks have been quite negative for rolling highway services that from Italy cross the Alps. Other than the premature announced interruption of the Novara-Freiburg, the service connecting Orbassano with Aiton, in France, was also discontinued on 21 April, which will likely lead to a significant reverse modal shift. In other words, transalpine roads will see more trucks running, both between Italy and France and between Italy and Switzerland.

The diversion through France

One of the main reasons behind Hupac stable numbers was the introduction of a diesel shuttle service along non-electrified railways on the French side of the Rhine River during the renovation of the Rhine Valley railway in Germany. In cooperation with Captrain France and SBB, Hupac managed to divert 20 freight trains every day on the line between Offenburg and Wörth.

Having trains going through France rather than Germany might become a more common practice for the Swiss operator. “Since the beginning of 2025, we have been routing some of our Belgium-Italy traffic through France instead of Germany. This enables us to counter the risk of irregularities and increase the reliability of our transport operations,” said Hupac CEO Michail Stahlhut, who added that more diversion routes are planned.

Low starting bar

Despite managing to keep volumes stable in 2024, Hupac was starting from a relatively low threshold, as volumes in 2023 decreased on all fronts. The similarities in figures between 2023 and 2024 is also reflected by the fact that Hupac faced similar issues. Over the past couple of years, in fact, low quality of the railway network, especially in Germany, was a constant challenge for many operators in Europe.