A new container train Riga – Moscow has been unveiled on 31 August.
In the event participated the transport minister, the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Latvia, the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Latvia, the management of the SJSC Latvijas Dzelzcels (LDZ), the management of the LDZ Cargo Ltd., the representatives of the container terminals of Riga port, the management and experts of the stevedoring company TFS Trans.
The project of the container train Riga – Moscow has been developed in collaboration with the open joint-stock company TransContainer, SJSC LDZ, LDZ Cargo Ltd., Freeport of Riga and with the Container Terminal Riga.
The consigner of the train is the stevedoring company TFS Trans. The container train will transport the Chinese transit goods to Russia. The first pilot train unit has been dispatched on 22 August. Henceforth, the container train (No 1232/1231) will run on a regular basis, once a week. A container train is a fortunate alternative for car transports as it runs according to schedule and does not cause traffic jams at Latvian-Russian border crossing points and clears the charged roads. A train unit contains 82 TEU; it performs a run up to Moscow in 48 hours.
In late years, the demand for transit cargo carriage in the ports of the Baltic states increases sharply; the Baltic states provide new logistic services, e.g. combined traffic.Carriages of transit goods in container trains are very perspective. Already at present, container trains are carrying up to 10% of Latvian port transit goods.
A new container route will be opened from Liepaja to Russia at the end of September. This will significantly increase the volume of these carriages.