New Freight Rail Service Portugal-Germany

[John Ashworth]

DB Schenker Launches New Rail Service Between Portugal-Germany

31 January 2012
Analytiqa

Starting on February 3, DB Schenker Rail Automotive GmbH and DB Schenker’s Portuguese national company, Schenker Transitários, S.A., will offer their customers a new regular train service between Portugal and Germany. Trains for exporters from industry and trade will connect Porto and Lisbon with factories in northern Germany.

One of the target industries for the new offering is the automotive industry in Germany and Portugal. The additional route will expand and reinforce the DB Schenker Automotive RailNet service.

A train pair will provide uninterrupted service on the Braunschweig/Göttingen–Lisbon/Porto route on a weekly basis. It will take less than three days to complete the distance of 2,700 kilometres. Runs will take place over the weekend, ensuring transportation times are short and automotive products reach their destination quickly during weekend driving bans on the roads. The change of gauge will take place in Irun, from European standard gauge to the Iberian standard, and vice versa.

Beginning in August, the service will include an additional train pair each week.

Together with the DB Schenker Rail Automotive GmbH control tower, Schenker Transitários’ S.A. new control centre in Lisbon will assume overall management of the loading units including pre- and onward carriage by truck between the customers’ loading stations and their terminals at freight transport centres in Portugal and Germany.

The new solution was developed and implemented in close cooperation with AICEP (Agencia para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal), a Portuguese government business entity focused on supporting export activities.