Following the recent closure of the Gotthard tunnel and the Brenner route, ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) is offering an alternative for freight traffic between Italy and Germany with its new TransFER Verona-Wuppertal. International freight traffic on this route is currently severely hampered. The Brenner route has been reopened to freight trains after a complete closure in August, but there are still restrictions in the Gotthard tunnel. On the north-south route through the Swiss Alps, clean-up operations continue following the derailment of a freight train.
The TransFER Verona-Wuppertal offers an attractive alternative for transporting goods between the two markets. RCG is thus creating a direct, non-stop network connection for continental flows of goods between northern Italy and the Ruhr region, and is also helping to shift traffic along the Brenner axis to environmentally friendly rail and to relieve transit congestion in Tyrol.
The TransFER Verona-Wuppertal is particularly suitable for 20, 30, 40 and 45 foot containers as well as 25 and 45 foot swap bodies and craneable trailers. Following restrictions in recent weeks, TransFER is now operating three round trips per week between the Sommacampagna-Sona terminal near Verona and the DUSS terminal in Wuppertal-Langerfeld. If demand increases, the number of round trips can be increased further.
