A pioneering direct intermodal rail service to Russia plus a new service to Poland for the UK and other European markets has been launched by leading logistics provider P&O Ferrymasters.
P&O Ferrymasters will offer a daily rail link from Rotterdam to Poland and a bi-weekly service from Poland to Moscow (and back again). It is the first operator to offer a through train service from Rotterdam to Moscow rail terminal.
The new services will increase the maximum tonnage carried as well as providing competitive transit times compared with other current modes of transport to Moscow.
By 2009 the company plans to increase the number of services to Moscow to three per week. The new services now connect Italy, Benelux, Ireland and the UK to Poland using PCC. From Poland all these countries will now be connected to Russia too.
The new Intermodal service follows on from the opening of a P&O Ferrymasters office in Chorzów near Katowice in Poland in May 2008.
Bart Verbeke, Director Intermodal Division, said: "Strategically, Poland and Russia are very important markets for P&O Ferrymasters due to the growing economies and the demand for transport capacity as more international companies move their production facilities to these countries. We are experiencing a large growth in demand from European customers wanting to trade with Poland and Russia and our new services will also provide an enhanced level of service to our existing industrial customer base in Poland.
"The services will allow us to increase the maximum tonnage carried and also extend our extensive rail footprint at competitive rates. We expect the service to attract customers looking to reduce road haulage transportation for environmental reasons as well as customers from the high value goods sectors looking for an intermodal solution with optimum security.
"P&O Ferrymasters offers the expertise of a European logistics provider combined with the on the ground support of local experts in Katowice who can speak the language. That's why we believe this new transport solution makes perfect sense for business," he added.
P&O Ferrymasters is part of P&O Ferries, which is owned by Dubai World. The company employs 900 people at 29 strategic locations across 11 European countries.