A new intermodal rail connection between Duisburg in Germany and Katerineholm in Sweden was started in early April by TX Logistik. The railway company operates two weekly roundtrips between the two destinations for Samskip Multimodal. TX Logistik is the service’s operator, while Samskip is responsible for managing the available slot capacity.

The first train commenced on 6 April. It departed from the Duisburg Rail Terminal (DRT) in Duisburg, with TX Logistik taking over the traction at Krefeld Uerdingen station. The route continues via Padborg and the Öresund Bridge in Denmark, reaching later Malmö in Sweden and finally Katrineholm. Katerineholm is located in the province of Södermanlands län, about 150 kilometres southwest of Stockholm. The destination is the terminal GDL in Katrineholm.

Special lisence for Öresund Bridge

Samskip and TX Logistik have been cooperating for years “in the maritime sector and transport containers for the partner in seaport-hinterland traffic on the Rotterdam – Munich route”, said Bernd Weisweiler, director business development at TX Logistik. However, their long-standing synergy is not the main reason for launching the Duisburg-Katerineholm link.

The Öresund Bridge in Denmark is key in this sense since TX Logistik is one of the only three rail logistics companies licenced to transit through the bridge. As a result, this licence makes the route feasible in the end.

As for the technical aspects of the new train service, “the trains are around 700 meters long and can carry up to 42 load units, including swap bodies, semi-trailers and containers. They are mainly loaded with industrial and consumer goods”, explained TX Logistik.

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