New rail freight service to Italy

The Midlands has recently received a strengthening of its trading links with mainland Europe with the introduction of direct rail freight services between Birmingham and Padova in northern Italy, reports DB Schenker, Britain’s largest rail freight operator.

The new train service builds upon the existing twice weekly DB Schenker rail freight services from Birmingham to Milan revealing strong customer demand in the Midlands for these freight trains.

The service is fast, with the train journey from the Midlands via the Channel Tunnel to Italy taking just 42 hours.  Retailers, food producers and manufacturers are using the train as it provides them with a saving of at least 24 hours over traditional road haulage.

Customers also do not need to worry about collections from the rail freight terminals; DB Schenker is providing a full door to door service, collecting from the customer and delivering to the end destination.

There is also a timetabled connecting import and export service between Birmingham and Glasgow providing an alternative to the road network.

Alain Thauvette, Chief Executive of DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd, said: “We are providing our customers with both the economic and environmental benefits they seek, as well as improving service levels for their Italy-UK supply chains.  They are benefiting from reduced costs, improved service reliability over traditional rail and intermodal routes and a reduction in carbon emissions.”

For further information, visit: www.rail.dbschenker.co.uk

Published: 04/06/2010