After about two months since its launch, the fourth round trip of the intermodal connection between Rotterdam and the Bavarian business hubs of Nuremberg and Munich is already firmly established on the market. “We have been running the extra train since the beginning of April and the acceptance is very good,” says Dirk Jeßke, Director Maritime at TX Logistik AG (TXL). The rail relation had been initiated jointly by European Gateway Services (EGS), a logistics subsidiary of the Rotterdam-based terminal operator ECT, and TXL almost two years ago starting with three departures per week.
The trains transport both continental cargo units as well as maritime shipping containers. “The strong demand has increased to such an extent over the past months that overbookings occurred in some parts,” explains Frank Lehner, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of TX Logistik. “Therefore, together with EGS we have decided to increase the capacity.” As a result, an additional arrival and departure is available on Thursday evening in Nuremberg and Munich since April – in addition to the existing arrivals and departures on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The hinterland connection especially attracts the interest of shipping companies, forwarding agents and transport companies with a high level of import and export goods. Shipping containers from Rotterdam are safely forwarded to the southern German hinterland, while the cargo output from the export-focused large corporations and medium-sized companies in Bavaria is getting to Europe’s busiest sea port with its numerous overseas shipping lines. The trains are marketed jointly by TXL and EGS, and TX Logistik also takes care of organisation, dispatching and tracking. In Rotterdam the trains go to the CTT and the two Euromax and ECT Delta container terminals. Also transfers via truck and barge to other terminals and ports such as Antwerp, Vlissingen, Terneuzen and Moerdijk are available and readily used. Dirk Jeßke states: “This allows our customers to use our train product for various multimodal transport solutions. With this option, TXL provides a unique overall package of direct connections from southern Germany to Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Rotterdam with appealing forwarding options from a single source.”