DB streamlines Germany, Poland rail

DB Schenker Rail has begun offering new container transport services from the Hamburg and Bremerhaven seaports in Germany to Poland. The company has been running container trains from Hamburg and Bremerhaven to Poland since 1991; however, until now, the block trains were handed over to Poland rail company PKP Cargo at the border, split up, and then recombined before being transported to ultimate destinations in Poland.

Under the new arrangement, trains are no longer split up. Instead, the containers are transhipped onto PKP block trains at a new hub terminal in Gadki, Poland, before proceeding to final destinations. “We expect the new system, with direct shuttle trains, to yield faster transit times and greater reliability,” says DB Schenker.

In related news, December saw the chief executives of four European rail freight companies – Germany-headquartered companies DB Schenker and TX Logistik, and Switzerland-headquartered companies SBB Cargo and BLS Cargo – present proposals in Berlin for the development of European rail freight transport corridors as defined by the European Commission. DB Schenker says that the four companies agreed on a joint position that will be actively promoted to policymakers and national infrastructure managers. “Given that the growth forecast for European rail freight mainly concerns cross-border corridors, for example the corridor Rotterdam-Genoa, it is important to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks along those routes,” says DB Schenker.

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