Railion to start ferry services to Baltijsk in December
Railion Deutschland and Danish shipping company DFDS A/S have reached an agreement to commission a second rail link to Russia via the Baltic on December 5th.
The rail ferry will run between Sassnitz-Mukran on the island of Rügen and the new major port of Baltijsk (near Kaliningrad) in Russia.
The new ferry crossing will give Railion a second reliable and effective connection to Eastern Europe by way of the Baltic, positioning Railion to claim a share in the anticipated growth of goods shipments to and from Russia.
The port of Baltijsk has a significant role to play in this connection, as it will be responsible in future for supplying the entire south Moscow region.
In July 2006, Railion and DFDS put a new ferry into service between Sassnitz-Mukran and Klaipeda in Lithuania. Sassnitz-Mukran is the largest rail ferry terminal in Germany, and the only port facility in Europe that can handle transport involving Russian broad gauge cars.
The ferry ‘Vilnius’, with a capacity of 90 Russian rail cars or 108 truck trailers, will be used for services to Klaipeda and Baltijsk. Starting in December there will also be three departures to and from Baltijsk every week.
