DB Schenker Rail has commissioned SBB Cargo with transport operations for routing international freight trains via Switzerland for another five years until 2020. The contract’s volume stands at approximately 8,000 freight trains per annum on Switzerland’s main transit routes via the Gotthard and Lötschberg lines.
Transalpine transport is of major importance, and this contract extension sees DB Schenker Rail secure a significant competitive advantage in the run-up to the opening of the new Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016. Every week, a total of some 250 DB Schenker Rail trains use the Swiss sections of central Europe’s north-south corridors. Some trains are operated by the company’s own local subsidiary, DB Schenker Rail Schweiz.
Commenting on the occasion of the contract’s signing at the northern entrance of the Gotthard Tunnel, Markus Hunkel, Member of the Management Board for Production at DB Schenker Rail, said, “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with SBB Cargo on the Gotthard and Lötschberg lines. Our cooperation started at the beginning of 2014, and its continuation will boost the strong position of both partners in transalpine services.”
Nicolas Perrin, CEO of SBB Cargo, said, “By extending this contract for a further five years, DB Schenker Rail will continue its partnership with SBB Cargo that provides transit connections across the Swiss Alps after the opening of the new Gotthard Base Tunnel. Our portfolio of services has won us new customers and we have proven that we can continue to be competitive – an important sign.”
Not only do SBB Cargo and DB Schenker Rail operate transit traffic together, but they also cooperate in a wide range of other fields. For example, the two companies have established cross-border import/export transport services in recent years, and in 2015, they inaugurated faster connections (in both directions) between industrial centres in Germany and Switzerland. Now, palletised consumer goods can be transported from Hamburg to every corner of Switzerland within 48 hours, for example.
(Source: DB Mobility Logistics AG)
