Last night, the first train of DB Cargo carrying relief goods for the people of Ukraine took off from Seddin marshalling yard near Berlin. This officially opened the Ukraine rail bridge of Deutsche Bahn, a cooperation between DB Cargo and DB Schenker.

The train is loaded with 15 containers including sleeping bags, sleeping mats, diapers, canned food, drinking water, warm clothing and baby food, as well as medical products such as syringes, plasters, gauze bandages and cannulas. In this way, a total of 350 tons of relief supplies will be brought to Ukraine.

Helping quickly with what is needed most

“The rail provides a stable connection to Ukraine. Today we are starting to help quickly – with what is needed most. A stable connection and experience in logistics processes are important here so that we can help reliably”, says Sigrid Nikutta, member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Bahn Group for freight transport and head of DB Cargo.

Jochen Thewes, chairman of the Board of Management of DB Schenker: “Logistics gets things to where they are needed, especially in times of crisis. With our rail bridge, we are making sure that the huge international readiness to help reaches the people in Ukraine.”

Rail and road together

Deutsche Bahn has set up a logistics network on rail and road to transport aid supplies from Germany directly to Ukraine. This will enable thousands of tons of food, drinking water and sanitary items to be transported directly to the country by truck and by rail in the coming weeks.

Donations are collected by truck in Germany, packed into containers and finally transported across the border to Ukraine by train, in cooperation with the Polish subsidiary of DB Cargo and Ukrainian Railways.

Hotline

There is a dedicated hotline for the rail bridge to Ukraine, staffed on weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm. The phone number is 030-720 220 640. Here, freight can be registered and its pick-up coordinated, especially for companies and large donations. The transport is free of charge for donors until further notice.

Individual donations are also accepted. For this purpose, collection points have been opened at three different Schenker branches in Germany.