From Hamburg through Poland to the Balkans – CER Cargo builds an interoperable rail freight network
The last few months have been very active for CER Cargo Group. The company operated its first train on the Romanian railway network and expanded its service coverage to include Romania. “We do not only make power point slides and press releases – above all, we consistently execute our strategy of fast and efficient cross-border rail freight transport across Europe,” says Wilhelm Patzner, CEO of CER Cargo Group.
In April, CER Cargo Group launched a new service for an Austrian intermodal customer from Graz, Austria, to Batajnica, Serbia (near Belgrade). The CER Siemens Vectron interoperable locomotive is now operating in Croatia and Serbia, where CER acquired a smaller railway undertaking in order to independently offer rail transport services to and through Serbia using its own resources. The next logical step is Bulgaria, where a solution will be established by the end of the year – either through a greenfield start-up or an acquisition of an existing rail carrier. This country will complete the network, enabling the provision of interoperable, high-quality and competitive rail services between Germany and Poland on one side, and Turkey on the other.
An additional strategic focus for CER is the corridor between Poland and Germany. A recent development on this corridor is the group’s ability to operate trains entirely with its own resources. “Between Poland and Germany, we successfully handle not only heavy grain trains operated by a single locomotive without any changes at the border, but we are also managing fast intermodal trains, and we are running more and more of them out of Poland,” says Peter Jančovič, CEO of CER Poland, the Polish carrier within CER Cargo Group.
To further strengthen the group’s operational capabilities in Germany, the integration and restructuring of the former Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo – now operating as CER Cargo Traction – is currently underway. As the new owner, CER Cargo Group has had to make some difficult decisions, including the closure of certain unprofitable business areas such as its own rolling stock maintenance and shunting services in Austria. “We are very sorry for the respective employees, but these hard steps were necessary in order to make CER Cargo Traction profitable in the future, meaning, that we secure the remaining employees and can focus on our core activities. Fortunately, the customers are very happy with the high operational quality on our maritime core routes between Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Austria,” adds Wilhelm Patzner. This provides a strong foundation for expanding the product portfolio beyond regular scheduled trains to include conventional bulk freight trains as well as spot trains.
CER is also focusing on the growing importance of the Port of Rijeka, offering competitive, interoperable solutions connecting Rijeka with Hungary, Romania and Austria. “Although the overall market environment remains challenging and price competition is fierce, we are winning more and more new international business thanks to our interoperability capabilities – because we can deliver high quality at competitive prices,” adds Patzner. In December 2026, CER Cargo Group will take delivery of two additional new Siemens Vectron A17 locomotives, approved for operation in Serbia as well.