The Port of Rostock, located in Northern Germany, on the Baltic Sea, has announced that Duisburg and Kaldenkirchen can now be reached from Rostock with a high-performance intermodal connection.

Duisburg

Duisburg is the world’s largest inland port, located in Germany, on the Ruhr and Rhine rivers. The Rotterdam-based company Samskip runs a service between Duisburg and Rostock which was opened in early October. It will be handled at RTM Rostock Trimodal Terminal three times per week.

Initially, up to three trains a week will run from the Samskip rail terminal in Duisburg-Hohenbudberg to the seaport of Rostock. From here, up to 17 daily ferry and RoRo connections to Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Baltic states can be served on short routes. The 720-metre-long block train arrives in Rostock at midday/early afternoon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and departs for the Ruhr area at midnight on the same day.

Samskip is quoted in a Port of Rostock press release as stating: “This new relation connects Duisburg and Sweden in particular via the Port of Rostock. With this offer, we are creating a new alternative in addition to the all-rail route and can thus meet the demand from the market. We are confident that our customers will accept this reliable green transport alternative using the environmentally friendly sea route.”

Shuttle trains regularly run between the Rostock Trimodal Terminal and various European cities. Currently, 50 combined transport trains run weekly from Rostock to and from Verona (16), Bologna (3) in Italy, Bratislava (6) in Slovakia, Dresden (10) [with connections to Curtici (2) in Romania], Herne (5), Wuppertal (3) and Halle (1) in Germany, Bettembourg (3) in Luxembourg [with connections to the south of France as well as Spain] and newly to Duisburg (3).”

Kaldenkirchen

Kaldenkirchen is located in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, close to the Dutch border at Venlo. A new intermodal service between Kaldenkirchen and Rostock, which runs six times per week, was opened by Leipzig-based company CargoBeamer. It will be handled at the General Cargo Terminal of Euroports Germany.

From Kaldenkirchen there are gateway connections to Perpignan, on France’s southeastern coast near the Spanish border, and Domodossola in northern Italy, near the Swiss border.