More alternatives are now available in intermodal transport between Turkey and Europe.

Despite strong intermodal alternatives between Turkey and Europe, pandemic and opening of Marmaray tunnel for freight encouraged even more.

4 new intermodal services started last month. Here are them:

Halkali-Curtici

With the cooperation of H.Essers, Ekol Logistics and Rail Cargo, first train departed on 15th of May from Halkali.  Destination is Railport Arad, in Romania, very close to Hungary border. This is expected to be the first regular container train to a Balkan country from Turkey. It’s planned to be a weekly train.  

Bozuyuk-Duisburg

This service was organized by Mars Logistics. First departure is on 15th of May from Bozuyuk, which is an important export region of Turkey. Industries there mainly use sea lines until now. Some of this volume may shift to train. Mars is also running Halkali-Duisburg trains. Departures from Bozuyuk is planned as biweekly.

Arifiye-Sopron

This is a company train of Reysas, targeting mainly the automotive industry around Sakarya. Departure is from Arifiye, where Toyota car plant exists nearby. Destination is Sopron in Hungary, which is a very important rail hub in Central Europe.

Kosekoy-Budapeste

First train departed on 22nd of May from Kosekoy, TCDD’s only logistics center around Turkey’s densiest industrial region along Istanbul-Izmit-Sakarya. There are huge production plants near the terminal. Trains to Caucasus using Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line is also departing from Kosekoy. The destination is Bilk Terminal in Budapest, operated by Rail Cargo, which has strong rail connections to several industrial regions of Europe. The train is planned to run weekly.

Cover photo: Tradetrans ©