New rail connections between Baltic and Bosporus

Peter Kiss, CEO of Metrans-Group: “The new relations fit well into the philosophy of our dynamic group. We are connecting an increasing number of ports with our strategically positioned hub terminals for the transhipment of containers across Europe. More relations mean a more attractive service for our customers, operationally as well as in terms of costs.“

The new connection with Turkey was made possible by a cooperation with the Turkish logistic provider Omsan Logistics. The first train with containers left the Metrans Hub Terminal Dunajska Streda (Slovakia) on the 3rd of September in direction to Istanbul terminal Halkali. In the beginning, two round trip weekly train connections are planned.

More than other rail services, the connection with Turkey with its long rail distance contributes to the reduction of road traffic and underlines HHLA’s commitment to sustainability. Together with Omsan Logistics, it is a chance to reduce the carbon footprint on this important relation. The company has a strong background on the Turkish market. As an inhouse logistics provider of OYAK group, they will support Metrans with their deep market knowledge.

In Poland, Metrans is closing a missing link on its European network map with a connection to the Baltic Sea. From 5^th of September 2022, regular trains between the Czech Metrans terminal Ostrava and DCT container terminal in Gdansk are starting on a promising relation. Now the boxes of Metrans customers can cross Poland from the south to the north three times every week in each direction, with a stopover in Dabrowa Gornicza near Katowice.

“We enable our customers in Central and Eastern Europe to get regular connections to the port of Gdansk”, Peter Kiss is adding. “This is a welcomed, long awaited connection, which brings new opportunities to the customers and the market. As you would expect from Metrans, we are presenting a sustainable innovation: The block trains between Gdansk and Ostrava are optimised in length which can reach up to 750 meters. That is increasing capacity of a single train to 112 standard containers and helps to consume less energy per box.”