Author: Nikos Papatolios

It’s time the EU commits to financial support for rail to meet policy goals

Consistency in pursuing goals, political commitment and explicit financial guarantees. Those are the three pillars that will ensure rail investments take place in a targeted and efficient manner in pursuit of reaching climate and decarbonisation goals and making rail freight more competitive. According to ETF, CER, and UITP, it is high time the EU proved…

HHLA acquires majority stakes at Roland Spedition to boost intermodal business

A new majority stake acquisition of Roland Spedition GmbH, a full-service rail and road transport operator, allows HHLA to boost hinterland links to and from Austria. The Hamburg-based company took over 51 per cent of the Austria-based intermodal service provider and now eyes optimising combined transport operations within its network. Shareholders and managing directors of…

“Rail should copy road’s funding mechanisms in Poland to grow”

The Polish economy is rebounding faster than most of the rest of the EU, infrastructure projects are seemingly in place, and rail volumes have been relatively stable during the past couple of years. Despite that, the overall picture for Polish rail freight is not positive. “We haven’t been achieving any substantial progress in the market…

Finnish cargo critical to making Rail Baltica relevant for logistics

Rail Baltica is probably one of Europe’s most anticipated railway projects, and rail freight is set to benefit significantly from its development. However, no matter its potential, the project could also end up becoming irrelevant for logistics. According to Oli Pohjanvirta, CEO of Nurminen Logistics, attracting Finnish volumes will be key in determining the project’s…

Greek railway accident: more evidence surface over ‘lost container’

The investigation into the fatal railway accident involving a passenger and freight train in Greece a year ago continues on three fronts. Some of the most critical findings currently concern the notorious ‘lost wagon/container’ that was not registered as part of the freight train service but was allegedly carrying illegal cargo, specifically dangerous chemical substances…

MSC acquires French forwarder extending Eurasian rail network

MSC is officially ready to acquire the majority shares of French freight forwarder Clasquin. The two parties have agreed on the specifics of the transfer and will soon proceed to the merger of operations. MSC subsidiary SAS Shipping Agencies Services Sàrl will carry out the acquisition, which is expected to result in the extension of…

DB Cargo misses financial targets, volumes and performance drop

In a “negative as expected” year, Deutsche Bahn’s financial performance was again in the red. Losses were not avoided in 2023, and the Group’s freight subsidiary DB Cargo was no exception. The state-owned freight carrier did not meet the target of closing 2023 with a loss of 225 million euros. Instead, the company reported EBIT…

SBB’s black results cannot hide single wagonload financial bleed-out

The Swiss SBB Group brought its finances back to the black in 2023 for the first time since 2019. Strong passenger transport performance led the Group’s recovery. Cargo performance was still in the red for 2023, despite the closing gap of losses (-40 million francs against -191 million francs in 2022). At the same time, […]

Maersk still in the race for DB Schenker’s acquisition, says CEO

After DHL withdrew from the race of DB Schenker’s acquisition last week, Danish shipping company DSV appeared to be the sole remaining candidate to proceed with the purchase. However, another player claims it’s still here and ready to ‘disrupt’ the process. According to Maersk’s CEO Vincent Clerc, his company is still examining buying the German […]