In close cooperation the companies of CFL multimodal, Stena Line and LKW Walter have initiated a new direct intermodal train connection between the intermodal terminal of Bettembourg-Dudelange and the Schwedenkai Terminal in Kiel for onward transshipment to Gothenburg.
The first train left Luxembourg this Tuesday (21st January) and arrived in Kiel on 22nd January. The connection commences operations with three runs in each direction per week with departures from Kiel on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This new service links the Scandinavian markets with central Europe, France and Spain via the intermodal hub of Bettembourg.
Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director at the PORT OF KIEL: “We appreciate the new connection and support the expansion of intermodal traffic. The BLUE PORT Strategy of our port implies that we shift hinterland transports from the roads to railway transport whenever possible. The new connection between Bettembourg and Kiel contributes substantially to the reduction of emissions.”
The train is 710 m long and consists of 21 carrying wagons for trailers and contain-ers. Through this train up to 10,000 trailers and containers can be shifted per year from the roads to the more eco-friendly mode of rail transport. This year the PORT OF KIEL already expects 8,000 load units to be transported between Kiel and Bettembourg.
In Kiel important infrastructural foundations have been laid in order to push the ecologically advantageous shift of transport units from the roads to rail. The investments by the German Railway at the shunting station Kiel allow for longer trains and thus enhance the economic efficiency.
Hence, trains with an overall length of 750 m (55o m before) can now enter the Rbf Kiel-Meimersdorf and a third shunting track is ready for usage at the Schwedenkai Terminal. Here, no less than 25 % of the hinterland transport units are tran-shipped by rail these days already. After nearly 24,000 load units were transhipped by rail last year this number is expected to increase to well over 30,000 this year.
“The new intermodal train is one example of the shore-side transport options that Stena Line proactively devises together with its partners and which it markets directly to the customers. The cooperation with CFL multimodal and LKW Walter demonstrates a new way of thinking in the organisation of more sustainable logistics. We see a high potential also for the future and we are working at high pressure to establish attractive intermodal relations to Sweden”, says Katrin Verner, Freight Commercial Manager Stena Line.