Greek-Austrian rail company’s cargo service
Greece’s second private railway company, following the privatization of Trainose, is about to make its first journey on the Greek public rail network. Greek-Austrian consortium Rail Cargo Logistic Goldair is active only in cargo transport, as the name suggests, and its first outing using its own carriages will serve the Sindos-Idomeni route in northern Greece.
Although the services will only be twice a week to start with, the aim is to make them daily and connect the logistics installations of Greek group Goldair Cargo at Sindos, near Thessaloniki, with the Greek borders and then via the Austrian company’s network to Central and Western Europe.
The official launch of the company’s operations was attended by figures including Transport Minister Christos Spirtzis, Austrian Ambassador Andrea Ikic-Boehm, and the chairman of the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE), Giorgos Kakoulakis, but no one from Thessaloniki Port, which could also benefit from the firm’s operation.
The third private railway company operating in Greece is Piraeus Europe Asia Rail Logistics Ltd (PEARL), which is linked to Cosco. In the last few months it has operated seven weekly services to the Balkans and Central Europe, having obtained a notable amount of cargo that should secure its growth into a reliable alternative cargo transport firm.
