Kombiverkehr launches services to Turkey and Greece

Kombiverkehr’s combination of rail and ferry between Germany, Greece and Turkey to start also between Munich and Trieste

Frankfurt-based Kombiverkehr KG is expanding its European network for intermodal transport by launching another rail-ferry combination between Germany, Greece and Turkey. From February4, a direct train will be transporting semi-trailers, containers and swap bodies in each direction between the CT terminal München-Riem and Trieste three times a week.

The new train between Munich and Trieste travels overnight. Shipments for Greece continue on to Patras by ferry, shipments for the western part of Turkey to Tekirdag and those for the Asian part to the port of Pendik on the eastern outskirts of Istanbul. Tightly coordinated train and ferry timetables allow for shipments to be sent within four days between Munich and Pendik.

Whilst mixed passenger and freight ferries are used on the Greek service, freight-only ferries are used on the Turkish route. This is why there are virtually no restrictions on hazardous goods. Kombiverkehr gives forwarders and transport companies the option of booking the whole route end-to-end or just the individual legs. The train is thus also suitable for transports between southern Germany and northern Italy.

The new service from/to Munich completes the Frankfurt/Ludwigshafen and Trieste train service launched in October 2013. „The new train from Munich now provides access to a fast service to Southeastern Europe for all those forwarders for whom Frankfurt and Ludwigshafen were not really ideal starting and finishing points,“ says Peter Dannewitz, sales manager at Kombiverkehr. The terminal in München-Riem is connected with Leipzig, Schkopau, Cologne, Duisburg and Hamburg by direct national trains. Rotterdam and Antwerp can also be reached via the gateway terminal Duisburg-Ruhrort Hafen, whilst Hamburg-Billwerder has connections to and from Scandinavia and the Baltic.

Kombiverkehr sees great potential for growth on the routes with Greece and Turkey. „The decision to discontinue the land route to Turkey via the Balkan states and choose to go across the Mediterranean instead has proved to be the right one,“ says Peter Dannewitz. The volume of shipments on the service introduced in October was already higher than on the land-only route that was discontinued in November. Among other things, this was down to the speed and reliability of the new bimodal route.

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Quelle: LogEastics
Portal: www.logistik-express.com