On 27 November a ceremony was held at Maschen yard in Germany to mark the introduction of 835m-long freight trains between Germany and Denmark. The ceremony was attended by representatives of DB for Bremen and Niedersachsen, DB Netz and DB Schenker Rail Deutschland AG. From 9 December, long freight trains will operate regularly on this route. 10 million euros have been required to upgrade the infrastructure on the 210km line between the large marshalling yard in Maschen, Germany and the Danish border at Padborg.

As Hansjörg Hess, Production Director at DB Netz, pointed out, “the increase in transport capacity constitutes – in addition to building or adapting lines – an important factor in being able to offer customers enough capacity, taking into account the forecast growth in freight transport over the next few years. There is currently strong demand from rail shippers for longer freight trains travelling to Scandinavia, in order to make more efficient use of resources available.”

835m-long trains have been operating in Denmark for some time, but until now the maximum train length permitted on the German network was 740m, and only 670m on the section of the route between Maschen and the Danish border at Padborg. A further 165m represents 10 extra wagons.

Acording to Mirko Pahl, member of the Management Board for Production at DB Schenker Rail Deutschland AG, “in the longer term, we will be pursuing the aim of introducing 1500m-long freight trains on the German network.”

(Source: Deutsche Bahn AG)