German – Russian Rail Ferry launched

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On 8th June a regular rail ferry was launched across the Baltic between Sassnitz, Germany and Ust-Luga, Russia. The importance of this route is shown by the attendance of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Deutsche Bahn Chairman, Dr Rudiger Grube and Russian Railways President, Vladimir Yakunin at the launch ceremony. Speaking at the ceremony Yakunin said “This is not just another freight route we are launching today; this is a new transport corridor enabling us to provide intermodal cargo transits between the Asia Pacific and Europe through Russia”.

The port of Sassnitz has a unique dual gauge rail ferry capability with 30 km of Russian gauge track and 60 km of standard gauge track. It also has a wagon gauge changing facility adjacent to the ferry berths. Ust Luga is a new port 70 miles west of St Petersburg which was inaugurated in 2001. Its new rail links enabled imported freight to avoid the congested Saint Petersburgh rail network.

The Sassnitz to Ust-Luga rail ferry has previously been used on an ad hoc basis. In 2008 it was used to transport Siemens built “Sapsan” high speed trains that run between Moscow and St Petersburgh. This year it was used to transport the first of 38 Siemens Desiro trains that are to be used for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

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