The MSC-owned rail freight operator Medway is to build a logistics centre in the Portuguese city of Famalição, close to the northern border with Spain. In addition, it plans to launch a rail freight service between Portugal and Germany in 2019.

The logistics centre will be built at a budget of 25 million Euros. This new installation will strengthen Medway’s services for tyre company Continental, optical instruments manufacterer Leica and fashion company Salsa.

Rail freight service

Next year, Medway is to launch a rail freight service between Portugal and Germany, crossing Spain and France after a failed attempt do set up this line in 2012. This service is designed to supply components to Volkswagen’s factory (Autoeuropa) in Palmela, close to Lisbon, and to export the vehicles of this company.

Finally, the company announced that it wants to acquire new locomotives and to contract more workers, the staff totalling 800 people in 2018, to be able to offer more services. Medway has boosted its income due to dockers’ strikes in Setubal and Portugal, who transfer goods between ships and trains and good results of its services in Seville (Southern Spain), Madrid and Valencia port.

New company

Medway started operations in 2016, after the Swiss shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) acquired the national rail freight company CP Cargo. The new company has achieved to operate fifteen trains per day in Portugal, according to Medway.

Now it wants to expand its activities in Spain, France and Germany. Currently it has a ninety per cent market share of the Portuguese rail freight market, the remaining share handled by Takargo (Mota-Engil).