VTG Rail Logistics Austria puts new focus on heavy haul trains
VTG Rail Logistics will in future offer higher rail capacity from Hungary. The company’s rail logistics experts in Austria recently handled a heavy haul train with a gross weight of around 2,075 tonnes and a cargo weight of just over 1,500 tonnes on the route from Hungary via Croatia and Slovenia to Italy for the first time. A payload increase of around 350 tons has therefore been achieved on this route in comparison to previous shipments.
“We are delighted to offer our customers an even more attractive range of services by way of the new heavy haul train” says Günther J. Ferk, Managing Director of VTG Rail Logistics Austria GmbH. “It enables us to make more efficient use of loading and unloading points and our customers benefit from cost savings owing to the greater loading capacity.
In order to offer the heavy haul train service, specific approval had to be obtained from Hungary and Italy, as well as from the transit countries Croatia and Slovenia. Furthermore, wagon fittings conforming to the required wagon compositions were compiled. The train consisted of 26 VTG-owned wagons, comprising 102 m³ hopper wagons (Tagnpps) and 94 or 96 m³ bulk freight wagons.
The wagons were loaded with maize and wheat in Kaposvár, Hungary, and then transported across the Gyekenyes/Koprivnica, Savski Marof/Dobova and Sežana/Villa Opicina borders to Carmagnola in Italy. Traction services in Hungary were performed by the company CER, the transit from Croatia to Slovenia by RCC and the delivery in Italy by RTC.
The train from Hungary will operate on a regular basis in future. In addition, VTG Rail Logistics intends to extend its heavy haul train services and expand to include additional routes. For instance, plans to transport goods from Slovenia or Romania are already underway. Depending on the respective infrastructure, VTG anticipates full heavy haul gross weight capacities of up to 2,200 tonnes and approximately 1,600 tonnes in cargo weight.
The Rail Logistics Division of VTG Aktiengesellschaft specialises in the pan-European rail transportation of liquid, agricultural and industrial goods via private and state-owned rail carriers. It also organises upstream and downstream transportation by sea and road and provides access to the rail network for companies with no sidings of their own.