MSC UK announced a new rail service connecting Mossend in Scotland via Hams Hall, to Felixstowe and London Gateway. The new Mossend rail service builds upon MSC UK’s commitment to the Scottish market, customers, and ports, by complementing two existing weekly calls into the ports of Grangemouth and Greenock.

Jonathan Burke, Operations Director at MSC UK commented: “We are very pleased to announce that, together with our partners GB Railfreight and Maritime, the new service launched last week will add greater flexibility for our customers to move cargo to and from anywhere in Scotland and connect to global trade routes via the ports of Felixstowe and London Gateway.

This latest enhancement to MSC UK’s long-established and market-leading intermodal network offers great value to our UK customers by seamlessly connecting their cargo across road, rail and sea; delivering an efficient and cost-effective solution that helps contribute to our customers’ sustainability goals.”

Intermodal transportation is a core focus for MSC, and the company continues to make significant investments in this area to strengthen its inland solutions offering. Its fast-growing road, rail and barge network offers customers all over the world a flexible and effective way of moving cargo inland and contributes to the decarbonisation of global supply chains.

John Smith, CEO of GB Railfreight added “GBRf is delighted to begin this exciting new venture with MSC. We are committed to working with partners to ensure that we provide a first-class service. One that demonstrates the commercial value of collaborating with GBRf, delivers wider sustainability benefits for every region across the UK and grows the rail freight industry.”

The train service will run 6 days a week and enhance rail and road capacity for MSC UK’s customers, complemented by the company’s door-to-door haulage services designed to provide support at all stages across customer supply chains.

John Bailey, Managing Director – Intermodal and Terminals, for Maritime Transport Ltd said: ‘We are pleased that MSC UK have decided to utilise both of our terminals at Mossend and Hams Hall to launch this service. Our continued investment in intermodal services and infrastructure means the two sites, which form part of our growing network of seven fully open access terminals, offer excellent coverage and rail connectivity throughout the UK.

Jonathan continued: “This exciting enhancement to our intermodal offering ensures we can collect or deliver customers’ cargo from anywhere in Scotland and connect seamlessly to the ports of Felixstowe and London Gateway and mainline services to destinations around the globe.”

As a national leader in shipping and logistics, with knowledgeable support from local teams in Glasgow, Liverpool, London and the UK Head Office in Ipswich, MSC UK is confident that the new rail service will deliver success for all parties involved.

Multimodal logistics operator RUSCON, part the Delo Group, successfully completed the export of two container trains for the Belgian consignee.

In July 2022, container trains with 124 40-foot containers were delivered to the destination – Zeebrugge. The trains followed the route Tikhonovo Station – Brest/Malashevich – Rotterdam – Zeebrugge. The cargo was delivered in two shipments. The first train set out in June and the second after two days.

The shipment successfully passed customs clearance at the border with Poland and passed through Europe to the destination in Rotterdam without any delays. The organizers of the transportation are the Moscow office of RUSCON together with TransContainer.

“Considering all the geopolitical instability, one of a key factor in delivering the shipment without delays was the proficiency of a specialists and their careful planning of the delivery route. We keep on the planned course and adapt to any external conditions.” said Andrey Chernyshev, the Senior Vice President of RUSCON.

He added, “The successful implementation of this shipment once again confirmed the high level of professionalism both company and our colleagues from TransContainer in carrying out such a difficult shipments.”

Ruscon is 3PL operator for containerized cargo delivery in Russia and the CIS based on Delo Group’s assets. Ruscon expands its ability to provide end-to-end cargo delivery services by a range of its own transportation assets: marine terminals, fleet of trucks, flatcars, inland terminals, customs and logistics storage facilities as well as developed network of branch offices.

The transport and logistics business of the Group is made up of the multimodal transport operator Ruscon and the intermodal container operator TransContainer that owns and operates the largest fleet of containers and flatcars over the entire 1520 standard railway network.

MSC announces the opening of a new branch of MEDWAY in Belgium, which commenced operations late last week. Falling under MSC’s inland logistics partner MEDLOG, the new rail enterprise will operate as a licensed freight rail operator in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria.

Servicing clients shipping to and from the north-west of Europe, the new enterprise ensures the quality of MSC’s intermodal options in the region. From launch, the branch will operate daily connections between the port of Antwerp and four destinations in Germany: Neuss, Frankfurt, Germersheim, Wörth Am Rhein. In the mid-term it will also connect the other major key ports in Northern Europe; Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, and Hamburg, with inland areas in central Europe.

The region is a critical trade area, with vital ports for global logistics and transport services, transporting a wide variety of goods. While the service remains open to all types, this service will mainly facilitate the movement of white goods, chemicals, automotives and food stuffs.

Salvatore Prudente, MEDLOG Executive Director, explains what a milestone this is for Medway and MEDLOG: “The new MEDWAY Belgium branch expands our rail freight operator footprint in Europe. Establishing rail services in the north-west of Europe enables us to guarantee links with our own assets, as well as expanding our offerings to current clients. We’re incredibly proud of the work our dedicated teams have done to get us to this point and look forwards to continue to grow in the rail freight operations space.”

The rail transit branch launches with 4 electric interoperable locomotives currently in the fleet and more to be supplied at a later date. The locomotives are supplied by MEDWAY partner Alphatrains and railcars by VTG.

Connecting more ports in the European region with inland services is important for successful intermodal offerings and is an objective for the company’s growth for the future. Providing in-demand services to customers remains a key strategic goal, and MSC and its partners aim to expand and grow in ways that accomplish that task.

MEDWAY is currently a rail operator in Portugal, Spain and Italy and owns rolling stock, operated by partners, in Turkey and India. MEDWAY runs 40,000+ trains yearly, covering over 7 million km, with a global fleet of 110 locomotives and 4,700+ railcars.