logistics|railfreight|transport Archives

Everysens joins Rail Freight Group

Posted on 9 March, 2022 by David Priestman

Everysens has become a new member of Rail Freight Group (RFG), the representative body for rail freight in the UK. Members include rail freight operators, logistics companies, ports, equipment suppliers, property developers and support services, as well as retailers, construction companies and other customers.

RFGs’ aim is to increase the volume of goods moved by rail. It works to promote rail freight in a variety of environments, highlight the benefits of using rail freight and to communicate the sector’s successes.

Youness Lemrabet, CEO of Everysens, says: “We at Everysens are delighted to be joining RFG. We are aware of the key role that rail freight has to play in creating an emission-free supply chain, and are therefore happy to join an association that shares our long-term view.”

Sabrina Meksaoui, Chief Revenue Officer at Everysens, stresses: “Trains emit up to nine times less CO2 and particulate matter emissions than road transport. Knowing this, we are excited to be collaborating with RFG, who are making sure that railway and Government policy supports the rail freight sector.”

In addition, as a new member of this group, Everysens will be presenting its concrete client results during the RFG meeting sponsored by Knorr Bremse. This event will take place on Thursday March 10th at the offices of Digital Catapult in London.

Girteka doubles intermodal rail freight

Posted on 9 February, 202229 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Girteka Logistics, the largest asset-based transportation company in Europe, has announced the results of its intermodal rail freight division, which carried double the number of Full Truckloads (FTL) compared to 2020, saving over 14.4 million kilograms of CO2 emissions throughout 2021.

Girteka Logistics continued growing its operational intermodal capabilities through the year, beginning to use new freight lanes throughout Europe, starting with the newly-opened Kaunas Intermodal Terminal, which connected Lithuania with Tilburg, the Netherlands in July 2021. The lane also connected the Netherlands with the city of Rzepin in western Poland.

The road freight company also began using two additional lanes in its EU network: one in Germany in an industrial area, going towards the southern tip of France, with another freight route connecting northern Italy with northern France.

Overall, the company doubled the amount of FTLs it carried compared to 2020, with over 16,100 fully-loaded trailers traveling on rail tracks, saving the environment of more than 14.4 million kilograms of CO2 emissions, as the FTLs travelled for more than 15.2m km throughout the EU.

In addition to the saved emissions, the company has also calculated that carrying FTLs on the back of trains across Europe reduced the number of tires that Girteka Logistics needed throughout the year by at least 900, as well as avoided at least 61 accidents on the road, based on the average numbers in the industry. The company says this further showcases a commitment to sustainability and road safety as the obvious first choice for its communities.

Furthermore, Girteka Logistics‘ customers have access to its fleet of trucks that are powered by the latest Euro 6 standard diesel engines, as well as the option to complete first- and/or last-mile deliveries by using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) or HVO100 fuel, further reducing the CO2 emissions of the whole process, as HVO can reduce the environmental impact to up to 90% compared to regular diesel.

“The impressive growth of Girteka Logistics’ intermodal operations, which now have doubled in terms of our capacity and our CO2 emissions savings for two years in a row, is no coincidence,” stated Pavel Kveten, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Girteka Logistics European Business Unit. “It is the result of the hard work of our colleagues, who have put their best effort in to not only make sure that we had a ready product presented to our customers but to also assure our clients that our intermodal offering will satisfy their need to become truly sustainable, as evident by the number of emissions that we prevented from entering the environment.”

The logistics provider noted that growth, in particular, intermodal rail freight services to and from the UK will be one of the main priorities going forward in 2022. Overall, Girteka Logistics plans to grow the number of FTLs carried by intermodal rail transport by 50% in the coming year.

“I also wanted to highlight the work of our partners who have ensured that our intermodal services were of the highest quality and allowing us to deliver trailers reliably throughout the year,” added the COO, noting that “even in the worst-case scenario, our fully asset-based fleet enables us to react and alleviate any kind of issues on a very short notice, which is a key advantage of our intermodal offering.”

First unaccompanied cross-Channel rail service launched

Posted on 27 September, 2021 by David Priestman

Eurotunnel and CargoBeamer have signed a partnership which will see the launch of a new, 100% unaccompanied rail freight transport service across the Short Straits, from Calais to Ashford.

The extension of the rolling motorway from Perpignan to Ashford is a logical step in developing a future international intermodal network between the Channel and the Mediterranean. A second route from Domodossola, in the Alps region, to Calais will also be extended to Ashford after its launch in early October.

Both new railway services will prevent 8,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions , responding to the move to decarbonising freight transport and promoting modal shift. The launch of an unaccompanied freight service makes it possible to partially resolve the shortage of truck drivers in the UK and Europe as well as relieving traffic congestion on motorways.

This new service builds on the complementary expertise of both companies. Getlink SE, the parent company of Eurotunnel, brings not only the speed, flexibility, and reliability inherent in Eurotunnel Shuttle services, but also its expertise in frictionless border crossings and carriage maintenance at CargoBeamer Terminal in Calais through Europorte. CargoBeamer offers its customers the benefit of its commercial and logistical expertise through its rolling motorways from Perpignan and Domodossola.

Christian Dufermont, Freight Commercial Director of Eurotunnel, stated: “The signature of this partnership confirms our freight commercial strategy and is concrete proof of our customers’ increased interest in an unaccompanied cross-Channel service that helps decarbonise their logistic chains and improves flexibility.”

Nicolas Albrecht, Chief Business Development Officer of CargoBeamer, added: “We value the cooperation between Eurotunnel and CargoBeamer as another crucial step in developing new relations around our recently opened terminal in Calais. Connecting Europe and the UK by environmentally friendly rail is highly important to achieve our mission of reducing the carbon footprint of the logistics industry.”

More freight trains between Duisburg and Milan

Posted on 1 September, 2021 by David Priestman

Rail logistics company TX Logistik is increasing the number of round trips on the Duisburg (DE) to Segrate (IT) connection from five to six per week as of 6th September 2021 due to an increased demand for the transport of semi-trailers.

Since the completion of the Gotthard axis expansion, modern trailers with a corner height of 4m (profile P400) can be transported by rail through Switzerland without any restrictions. This has given an additional boost to demand on this route. For this reason, TX Logistik is adding a Saturday departure to its schedule in each direction, in addition to the previous departures on Mondays to Fridays.

The trains operate between the DUSS terminal Duisburg-Ruhrort Hafen and the Terminal Intermodale Milano Segrate east of Milan. The route runs along the Rhine via Zurich, through the Gotthard Tunnel, via Chiasso to Segrate and back.

The connection is operated as an open train system. Up to 34 loading units fit on one train. In addition to semi-trailers, which account for more than half of the loading units, containers, swap bodies and tank and silo units are also transported. The route is mainly used to transport consumer goods.

GBRf signs first rail contract with Maersk

Posted on 11 May, 2021 by David Priestman

GB Railfreight (GBRf) has announced a two-year deal with A.P. Moller-Maersk representing the first rail collaboration between the two companies.

The service will operate from Felixstowe to Newell & Wright in Tinsley, and will consist of daily trains, five times a week. The new-built facility at Tinsley will bring new opportunities to the market.

This new agreement sees GBRf operating from a new terminal in Tinsley, but is a continuation of a longstanding relationship with Newell & Wright, with whom GBRf have worked for a long time.

Today’s announcement also allows for the already strong relationship between GBRf and Maersk to flourish over the coming years. Maersk, a global integrator of container logistics company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation, has been the largest container shipping line and vessel operator in the world since 1996 and is a leading player in the logistics space. This new service will incorporate five new eco-fret 2 wagons which GBRf has recently procured from VTG.

John Smith, Managing Director at GB Railfreight, said: “I am delighted we have agreed this contract with Maersk, one of the world’s most renowned logistics and shipping companies. We are a growing organisation, always looking for the next opportunity and working with Maersk was an excellent opportunity. We hope this is the beginning of a great relationship.

“We are also thrilled to be able to continue to build on our relationship with Newell & Wright, and to be operating from another of their terminals. We look forward to strengthening our ties over the course of the next two years.”

Jeremy Haycock at Maersk said: “Maersk´s ultimate aim is offering our customers reliable options that streamline their supply chains. As a provider of logistic services, rail is key for us to increase supply chain flexibility for our customers. We will continue to strength our reliability in the UK and for that matter, the relationship with GBRf and Newell & Wright has proven to be of paramount importance.”

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