TX Logistik expands connection between Kaldenkirchen and Malmö

TX Logistik AG increases the frequency of its intermodal connection between the Lower Rhine and Sweden by two round trips. Starting July 5, the railway logistics company, part of the Mercitalia Group (Gruppo FS Italiane), will operate five times a week from Kaldenkirchen in the Viersen district to Malmö and back. The majority of the transported goods are trailers loaded with various types of cargo.

(Troisdorf) The rail terminal in Kaldenkirchen is just a few hundred meters from the German-Dutch border and is centrally located in the triangle between Venlo, Düsseldorf, and the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area. According to TX Logistik, there is a sustained demand for rail freight transport in this economically significant region, as well as in Scandinavia. The fact that the Kaldenkirchen – Malmö connection could be expanded just nine months after its launch demonstrates the importance of this corridor for the exchange of goods between Western and Northern Europe.

Permission for the Storebælt and Øresund Bridges

All services on the entire route are operated by TX Logistik in-house – with their own drivers and equipment. The route runs from Kaldenkirchen via Padborg and Copenhagen to the CMP terminal in Malmö. At the German-Danish border in Padborg, the driver change takes place, and the Swedish subsidiary TX Logistik AB takes over the traction there. Specially equipped multi-system locomotives, which TX has as one of the few companies in its fleet, are used on the route over the Storebælt and Øresund bridges.

TX Logistik received permission from the Danish regulatory authority in mid-June to use the Storebælt Bridge again for transporting trailers in pocket wagons after the general closure for all such transports in January. The company was certified to meet all regulatory requirements for the safe transport of semi-trailers by rail.

Connection to the domestic Swedish network

The connection is operated as an open train system. Up to 38 semi-trailers can fit on one train – a shift that leads to significant savings in CO2 emissions. In addition to the two new services, TX Logistik continues to operate three times a week from Malmö to the terminal in Eskilstuna, about 100 kilometers west of Stockholm. The railway logistics company thus complements the domestic Swedish network with the national line between Trelleborg, Malmö, and Eskilstuna, on which seven round trips per week are currently operated.

Photo/Graphic: © TX Logistik