SBB secures Europe cargo contract
SWISS rail freight group SBB Cargo has won a long-term contract to carry combined traffic between northern Europe and Italy as its efforts to expand its services outside its home territory continue.In a statement, SBB said it would run around 70 goods trains a week from the North Sea to Italy on behalf of TRW, a unit of Belgian national rail company SNCB, with which it has a long-standing relationship. SNCB will handle the convoys as they moved through France to Basel and through Belgium to Aachen. SBB will pick up the cargo from there, routing it to Turin, Milan and Novara in Italy and from there towards Piacenza and Tavazzano. The latest deal further consolidates SBB’s growing presence in Italy at a time when it is still working to shore up its long- struggling Swiss domestic operation. It also reinforces its burgeoning relationship with TRW, with which it will now run around 3,150 goods trains a year.