1 January 2016 has seen the arrival of FORWARDIS, the new entity of the SNCF Logistics group, which combines five rail freight forwarding subsidiaries: Ecorail, Ermechem, Ermefret, Captrain Solutions and Captrain UK.

This entity aims to offer simpler access to rail, finding the best solutions in continental
Europe and managing all resources for the delivery of end-to-end transport services.

Building on over 15 years of experience of its transportation consulting, engineering and organisation teams, FORWARDIS will be developing tailor-made logistics solutions for industrial companies.

Thanks to the expertise of rail operators, railcar rental, as well as inland waterway, maritime and road charterers, FORWARDIS will enhance and expand the services and added value it offers its customers, creating a major new player covering the whole of the European continent, and stretching out as far as Asia.

With annual revenues of more than €200 million and about 100 employees, FORWARDIS operates in three main markets: liquid bulk and hazardous materials (chemicals, gas, petroleum products, etc.), solid bulk (agricultural and construction products, waste, etc.) and industrial and manufactured goods.

Offering 100% rail services (block trains, wagon groups or wagonload), or multimodal
offers with responsibility that can be expanded to include the entire supply chain (river
transport, road, freight handling, containers, goods wagon management, administrative
and customs formalities, etc.) FORWARDIS can rely on the expertise and efficiency of its group entities to develop ever more reliable solutions and facilitate the shift towards more environmentally effective modes of transport.

This entity will network with and be supported by:

• Its Paris-based headquarters, FORWARDIS S.A., created from the merger of Ecorail
  and Ermechem and responsible for customers in France, Belgium, Luxembourg,
  Switzerland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, with the support of FORWARDIS UK
  in London;
• FORWARDIS GmbH in Berlin, formed by the merger of Ermefret and Captrain
  Solutions and responsible for customers in Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands,
  Austria, Eastern Europe and the CIS, Russia and the Balkans.

Edouard Laverny, General Manager FORWARDIS Europe, coordinates the business of the entities along with their respective managers: Aleksandra Röhricht and Philippe Golder for FORWARDIS GmbH, Nicholas Giraud for FORWARDIS SA.

For Sylvie Charles, General Manager of SNCF Logistics Rail and Intermodal Business Unit, “the creation of FORWARDIS is an additional asset for increasing access to rail and capturing new markets”.

(Source: FORWARDIS)