Rail Cargo Group accelerates the “Balkan Express”
The Rail Cargo Group, the ÖBB’s cargo division, has been providing a rail logistics link between West European economic centres and countries in Southern and South-East Europe, as well as the CIS, for several years now with its special product, the “Balkan Express”. This handles rail shipments in the form of single wagons, wagon groups or block trains and runs regularly to destinations in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Greece, Turkey and beyond. A dedicated dispatcher centre has now been opened in Bucharest in order to further simplify the processing for RCG customers.
Previously, shipments from the whole of Europe were assembled into trains at numerous hubs, such as Villach, Budapest, Sopron, Štúrovo or Belgrade, for onward transport. Since January 2018, however, shuttle train formation has taken place centrally in Budapest, thereby enabling standardised processing of transport operations from and to the Balkans.
The new Rail Cargo Group dispatcher centre in Budapest guarantees that the shipments run smoothly. Rapid train formation and planning down to the very last detail allow waiting times to be reduced effectively and shipping times to be shortened sustainably by several days. Furthermore, the centre offers professional support with wagon management and add-on services. The range of additional services offered extends from organisation of prior and subsequent carriage through to customs processing in the destination country.