Rail Cargo Group moves 330,000 tonnes of grain from Ukraine to EU
Having a well-developed network of rail freight connections, Rail Cargo Group, the Austria-based railway undertaking, has succeeded to arrange shipments of grain from Ukraine to the European Union. In three months since the beginning of the Russian invasion in late February 2022, the freight subsidiary of Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) moved 330,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain, mostly to Germany.
Rail Cargo Group (RCG) delivered grain from Ukraine to five European countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. In this regard, Germany is a key country for the Austrian rail freight carrier. “One train travels from the Ukrainian border to northern Germany every working day,” the company stated. As for shipments in general, each RCG’s freight train moves from 1,300 to 1,600 tonnes of grain.
According to the Austrian railway undertaking, the traffic towards the home market as well as Hungary is gradually growing. In July 2022, RCG will double monthly shipments to Austria and will increase by up to 66 per cent to Hungary. Moreover, 30 per cent of grain running from Ukraine to Hungary is transit, since its final destination is Italy. “Grain shipments to Germany will remain constant in advance at around 36,000 tonnes per month,” the subsidiary of Austrian Federal Railways added.
Another perspective direction for RCG is to deliver grain by rail from Reni, the Ukrainian port town on the Danube River, to the Port of Constanta in Romania. Until May 2022, it transported more than 33,500 tonnes of grain. Because of the lack of diesel fuel for the locomotives, the Austrian company began to use barges. “Currently, four barges are operating on behalf of RCG from Reni to Constanta via waterway. Around 20,000 tonnes of grain can be transported per month,” Rail Cargo Group noted.