Honda gets another train to transport its motorcycle components

Published on 26-01-2023 at 12:28

Three months after the automotive manufacturer Honda made the shift from road to rail for the transport of its motorcycle components, it was ready for a second roundtrip. The rail freight service between the port of Trieste and the Interporto Abruzzo terminal in Manoppello, southeastern Italy, now runs twice per week, on the request of Honda.

This service was launched by Sangritana, an Italian private transportation company based in Abruzzo, in October 2022 with the plan of handling 40 trains a year. Considering the positive outcome of the first months, another roundtrip has been added since January. Operations at the port of Trieste are carried out by Adriafer, the port’s multimodal transport operator, while the Sangritana will take care of the rail connection. Once the terminal in Manoppello is reached, the motorcycle components will be put on the road for the last 100 kilometres to reach Honda’s assembling plant in Atessa.

A spokesperson from Sangritana told RailFreight.com that some companies, mostly maritime operators, have already shown interest in the service offered by the company along the Italian Adriatic coast. This initiative was already in Honda’s plans since the launch of this service. In addition, a study will be carried out to understand whether a third weekly roundtrip can be implemented in the near future.

Ermewa provides the wagons, MSC and COSCO provide the containers

Each convoy is made up of 18 80-foot Ermewa wagons that were specifically manufactured in October for the launch of this service. Maximum capacity will be 72 TEUs and the containers will be provided by COSCO and MSC. The containers filled with motorcycle components reach the port of Trieste form various countries in Asia, including China, Vietnam, and Thailand. The containers are then brought back to Trieste empty and returned to the companies that own them.

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