DP World is launching a new rail service between the upper Rhine region and the port of Rotterdam, enhancing its impressive European Inland Network further and offering more sustainable and robust transport options to its customers.
The new service, starting on 14 March, connects Rotterdam with two round-trips per week with calls in Germersheim and Stuttgart.
It is another significant step for DP World’s inland network, which now consists of 12 inland terminals: three in Germany, four in Switzerland, two in Belgium and three in the Alsace region of France, providing resilient trimodal transport – road, rail, and waterway – solutions between European deep-sea ports and our network of inland terminals.
Rob Harrison, vice president for inland and logistics, at DP World Europe and Russia, said: “This is the latest exciting step in our journey to improve and expand our services for customers in Europe. Offering more rail connections means we’ll continue delivering on our commitment to increase efficiencies and reliability for customers whilst simultaneously reducing our carbon footprint in the region.”
The key to success in the region
According to Eurostat, Intra-European trade was estimated at €3.11 trillion in 2016, 78% higher than the value of exports leaving the EU, and accounting for more than 15% of total global trade. Between 2016 and 2020, exports between EU countries increased by EUR 219 billion, despite falling by EUR 228 billion between 2019 and 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
DP World believes that understanding the intricacies and inter-connectedness of lean, tech-enabled intermodal operations is the key to success in the region, and that building efficient networks through multimodal capabilities relies on lean port operations, where technology and expertise are utilised to provide transparency and reliability for both merchant and operator.
Rob continued: “We know the demands of customers, corporates and governments around the world, are changing. Businesses are facing increasing pressures to deliver products and goods on time and at speed, as well as keeping an eye on their carbon emissions and overall impact on the environment.
Trimodal solutions
“This reliance within the supply chain to deliver – and deliver fast – means that retailers are forced to expose themselves to not insignificant amounts of risk. As consumers continue to push the bar even higher with expectations for quicker and more reliable means of service, Europe-wide logistics providers need to be savvy about getting their goods from east to west, north to south, and vice versa.
“By offering trimodal solutions, we believe it makes it easier to build in redundancies in case of congestion, low/high water, or incidents, while also allowing us to expand our geographical scope. This moment in time, therefore, represents – not a challenge – but an opportunity for businesses to reconsider the quality and connectivity of their operations, both for the benefit of themselves and for their customers.”