Railion has started the first non-stop connection between Germany and Russia, with a rail ferry service between Sassnitz-Mukran on the island of Rügen and the Russian port of Baltijsk, near Kaliningrad.
The rail ferry link to Baltijsk is a joint venture between Railion Deutschland, the Russian national railroad RZD and Danish shipping company DFDS.
The start of services on the new ferry line gives Railion another reliable and effective connection with Eastern Europe.
The port of Baltijsk is a transhipment and distribution centre for the Russian hinterland, and the ferry service to Baltijsk is an intelligent addition to the effective land route provided by ‘Corridor II’, going via Poland to Belarus.
A special agreement between RZD and Railion validates the CIM consignment note to Baltijsk, thus extending for the first time to a Russian station, and simplifying and speeding up the handling of freight cars going from Germany to Russia.
Sassnitz-Mukran is the biggest rail ferry port in Germany; it is also the only port in Central Europe for transport using Russian broad gauge freight cars.
The ferry Vilnius, which has been in service between the port of Sassnitz-Mukran and the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda since July last year, will be serving the routes to both Klaipeda and Baltijsk, with a capacity of 85 and 49 Russian freight cars (to Klaipeda and Baltijsk respectively).
The service for Baltijsk leaves Sassnitz-Mukran once a week; there are two services a week for Klaipeda. The ferry crossing to Baltijsk takes around sixteen hours.
Eyefortransport
Login
