Lineas and ECS strengthen sustainable transport with new service to Germany

Starting in September, the first freight trains will travel over the new rail service between Zeebrugge and Crailsheim, Germany. This route connects seamlessly with the existing rail and shortsea connections to, among others, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and further strengthens the logistics network of the intermodal transport specialist ECS. The commissioning of the rail connection was made possible in cooperation with Lineas, the largest private rail freight operator in Europe.

The new service will carry 42 containers back and forth between Zeebrugge and Crailsheim, three times a week. This will take more than 11,000 containers and as many trucks trips off the road each year, which will not only reduce traffic but also significantly reduce CO₂ emissions. The estimated savings amount to as much as 2,600 tons of CO₂ per year.

The new rail link uses a new loading and unloading method in which the full set of wagons to be unloaded is disconnected, and a set of wagons, that is already filled, is picked up. This method minimizes loading time and allows the 751 km route to be completed within 24 hours, with minimal time loss and high punctuality compared with congestion-prone track transport.