Rail Cargo Group’s container rail shuttle between Austrian Wolfurt and Rotterdam will reach an all-time high in 2021, with over 18,500 TEUs transported. “An increase of more than 170 percent since we started”.
Rail Cargo Group started the connection in 2016, delivering 6,686 TEU that year. “The growth since can be attributed on the one hand to the attractivity of the port itself”, explains Berhard Ebner, Business Unit Manager Intermodal of the Austrian company. “On the other hand, we have succeeded in persuading our customers of the quality and commercial efficiency of our Wolfurt–Rotterdam TransFER. This train connects Western Europe with economic centres in South and South-eastern Europe, like Koper and Trieste. In addition, a direct connection to other Austrian terminals is provided.”
Frenkendorf and Niederglatt
Wolfurt is positioned in western Austria, close to the border with Switzerland.
Currently, the service offers three weekly roundtrips. Two of them connect Wolfurt with Rotterdam via Kufstein in Austria and back. The third one connects Rotterdam with Wolfurt via Frenkendorf in Switzerland. Ebner: “Next year we’ll be adding extra connections from Frenkendorf and Niederglatt to Wolfurt, with direct access to Rotterdam. We are merging the Swiss import surplus with the export surplus in the Vorarlberg region. This way, we are opening up a greater volume of traffic to the economy in the Lake Constance region.”
“We transport goods of all kinds in both directions, although the freight is mainly consumer goods”, adds Ebner. “Both Switzerland and the Lake Constance region are regions with a robust economy and the port of Rotterdam is a strong partner to connect them to the rest of the world. So for 2022 and 2023 we have set our sights on continuing the volume growth of the past few years.”
Regional Representative for the Port of Rotterdam, Franz Zauner: “We are pleased with such a great and important partner as Rail Cargo Group. Over the last 5 years we steadily have seen the container flows growing from and to Austria via Rail.”
