From Koper to Poland routes are going strong, especially this year
Baltic Rail has been providing a rail freight service connecting the port of Koper, in Slovenia, with Poland for over 10 years and has been constantly growing. Because of the current geopolitical situation, routes bypassing Russia, such as the one offered by Baltic Rail, have become more and more important.
The importance of these new routes is shown in Baltic Railâs recent numbers: âTEUs volumes have been growing since its beginnings. Volume has grown steadily for 10 years, 2022 is 38% higher than 2021â, Stephen Archer, CEO of the company, pointed out. He added that âpartly as a result of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the port of Koper and the rail infrastructure is not as badly congested as other portsâ.
Only Baltic Rail offers this service
Archer told RailFreight.com. that Baltic Rail is currently the only company providing direct rail service from the Adriatic to Poland through the TEN-T Baltic Adriatic Corridor. âOur service is neutral and independent, and it is open to all shipping lines and forwardersâ, he mentioned.
Goods coming from China to Koper by sea are loaded on freight trains operated by Baltic Rail and taken to Poland through Austria and the Czech Republic. The company operates in two terminals in Poland, one in Wroclaw and one in Katowice. The intermodal service is currently available four times per week. âThe fastest scheduled connection from China is 23 days, which results in China to Polish customer in under 25 daysâ, Archer highlighted.
Archer’s take on the future of rail freight
Difficult transportation services, overloaded ports, and geopolitical issues have complicated international trade through traditional channels. The service provided by Baltic Rail is an example of viable alternatives. When the geopolitical situation will be more stable, Archer predicts that sea transportation prices will drop again, making it still quite appealing over rail freight. He noted that rail freight does offer faster times, but it operates on a significantly smaller scale than sea transportation. However, on a more positive note, Archer stated that sea routes to the Adriatic and to the ports in Northern Europe can coexist with the rail routes connecting China to Europe.
RailFreight Summit Poland
Do you want to know more about rail freight and Poland? Come to the RailFreight Summit Poland, which is held on 7 & 8 September in Warsaw this year. Registrations are still possible. You can find the programme here.
Also read:
- Poland new hinterland for port of Koper
- Pontebbana railway line reopens: a sigh of relief for the Port of Trieste
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Regardless of “significant lower fig.:s”, still redundancy is added – and most needed,
as at any vital functions of society!
(Lack of redundancy, at most vital energy feeding of cooling pumps, was the direct cause, of the escalating catastrophe at Fukushima.
Robustness at the towers was insufficient, as simply not present. Given revealed vulnerability of current global supply chains, etc., etc.)