Kiel creates new hinterland links

The 490m long trains, which will be operated by Kombiverkehr KG, will serve both Kiel’s Schwedenkai Terminal and Ostuferhafen.

Peter Dannewitz, head of sales, Kombiverkehr KG, said: “With this new direct train link and the direct link between Kiel and Verona established last year, we are acknowledging the growing significance of the Port of Kiel in Baltic transport.”

There will be 24 slots available for departure for loadable trailer or 48 slots for container and swap-bodies.

Along with Baltic and Scandinavian transit traffic, the terminals in Kiel will also handle local freight consignments. The catchment area will be central and western Schleswig-Holstein, including the German-Danish border region.

“The direct link with Duisburg further increases our transport capacity and also relieves the daily intermodal rail shuttle service between Kiel and Ham-burg-Billwerder, with its connections to many national Kombiverkehr destinations,” Mr Dannewitz added.

The new service will help relocate goods traffic from the roads to eco-friendly rail services. CO2 waste gas emissions per delivery on the Kiel-Duisburg rail link are expected to be up to 750 kilos lower than on a comparable truck journey.

The Port of Kiel aims to transport an additional 5,000 deliveries by rail in the coming year.

Travel time from Kiel to the DUSS Terminal in Duisburg-Ruhort will be around eight hours. Trains from Kiel will run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while those from Duisburg will run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Arrival and departure times are being linked with ferry time tables in the Port of Kiel and a new detailed time table is set to be published at the beginning of the New Year.