Kombiverkehr launches new Germany-Sweden intermodal connection
Due to growing customer demand for more intermodal services to and from Scandinavia, Kombiverkehr, the Frankfurt-based logistics provider, has launched a new container train between Germany and Sweden, particularly between Lübeck and Halmstad. By offering one connection per week in each direction, the German company is getting ready for adding the second weekly train on the new route.
Being a major logistics provider in Germany, Kombiverkehr has a well-developed network of intermodal connections to many European countries. More and more company’s customers request new services to/from Scandinavia in general and Sweden in particular. Currently, the Frankfurt-based company delivers semi-trailers, swap bodies and containers from various destinations in Germany to Trelleborg, Malmö, Hallsberg, Gothenburg and Stockholm. Starting from 25 April, it has been running quite a new route – from Lübeck to Halmstad, which is halfway between Malmö and Gothenburg. The new service was launched in partnership with Spedition Bode, a German intermodal operator from Holstein, and DB Cargo Scandinavia, the Denmark-based subsidiary of DB Cargo that provides traction on the route.
For the termini of the new Germany-Sweden route, Kombiverkehr chose the Port of Halland logistics centre in Halmstad and the Lehmann Terminal in Lübeck. By combining the other intermodal services, the boxes and semi-trailers can be further delivered from Lübeck via MegaHub Hannover Lehrte to Verona and on to southern Italy as well as to Duisburg, Ludwigshafen, Munich, Rotterdam and Lovosice in Czechia.
Second train
Since the new connection excludes the ferry service across the Fehrman Strait, it uses only the fixed links in Denmark. This allows Kombiverkehr to secure the travel time for the Lübeck-Halmstad connection of fewer than 12 hours. Currently, the company is running one weekly train in each direction. Meanwhile, it is developing a schedule for the second connection on the mentioned route.
“We are already in preparations for a second weekly departure, which we will offer to all customers from the middle of the current year, as we see Sweden as an important intermodal growth market. Last year alone, we carried more than 50,000 truck consignments on our trains in continental traffic. In addition, there were several thousand consignments transported by rail in broken traffic via the Baltic ports, where the forwarders purchased the ferry service themselves. Together with our customers, we will bring more road transport in the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor onto climate-friendly rail”, said Alexander Ochs, managing director of Kombiverkehr.