More container trains between Turkey and Romania
Austrian national operator Rail Cargo Group, a part of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), has added the second pair of container trains between Curtici and Istanbul. This allows the carrier to intensify cargo turnover between Turkey and Romania.
More batches of containers could be delivered from Halkali, a significant freight terminal in Istanbul, to the Romanian intermodal hub of Curtici, which is located close to the Hungarian border. This has become possible due to an additional train service of Rail Cargo Group (RCG). A week ago, on 2 June, the Austrian rail freight operator launched the second pair of container trains between the mentioned points. The route is provided within the company’s TransFER network, a combination of the regular intermodal routes customised for delivering freight across Europe and from China to Europe as well.
“This direct connection between Romania and Turkey creates ideal logistics solutions for continental transports. With two roundtrips per week, our TransFER connection offers an increased frequency between Curtici and Istanbul starting in June. This enables a fast link between the two economic regions with a competitive transit time of only 72 hours,” RCG stated.
Curtici – Istanbul link
Currently, RCG provides the container trains from Istanbul to Curtici and vice versa two times a week. Besides the attractive transit time, namely 72 hours, the Austrian operator guarantees the fixed timetable. Its trains depart from Istanbul on Wednesdays and Sundays (17:00 in both cases) as well as from Curtici on Wednesdays and Saturdays (12:00 in both cases). The Curtici – Istanbul service is the direct non-stop connection that runs via Bulgaria (Svilengrad and Ruse).