Baltic intermodal freight service makes test run through Latvia

RIGA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Amber Train, the new intermodal combined freight train service, made its way through Latvia on a test run on Thursday, Latvia's national rail company Latvijas Dzelzlcels (Latvian Railway) informed.

On Wednesday night, the train left Sestokai train station in southern Lithuania to cross Latvia before reaching its destination in Paldiski, Estonia.

Heads of the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian national rail companies agreed to launch the freight service at a meeting in March. The Sestokai-Riga-Tallinn route connecting the three Baltic countries is expected to provide new opportunities to cargo transportation businesses.

"We believe that our cooperation has a great potential, because the infrastructure of the planned European-gauge railway will provide new opportunities. But today, we can still work within the existing railway network, offering our clients convenient and profitable cargo deliveries," said Latvijas Dzelzcels CEO Edvins Berzins.

The 43 containers that are being shipped on the test run started their journey in France, and in Poland they were taken over by Lithuanian rail company Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai, which delivered the freight to Latvia. LDz Cargo, the freight shipping subsidiary of Latvijas Dzelzcels, in cooperation with Estonia's EVR Cargo, delivered the freight to the Paldiski terminal in Estonia.

A multimodal deliveries company of France's SNCF Logistics Group, became the first client of Amber Train service. Enditem