Lineas and North Sea Port shift another 15,000 containers from trucks to low-carbon trains between Belgium and Italy

Lineas and North Sea Port shift another 15,000 containers from trucks to low-carbon trains between Belgium and Italy

New daily intermodal rail connection opens Piadena (IT) as new gateway to Italy

13 June 2022, Ghent – Answering the high customer demand for smart and low-carbon transport, Lineas is launching another intermodal rail connection between Belgium and Italy. The new connection opens Piadena as a new gateway to Italy for intermodal trains and comes on top of the successful Ghent-Segrate connection that was launched a year ago. The daily intermodal train will run from the Interface Terminal in North Sea Port (BE-NL) to the Pesanti terminal in Piadena (IT) and allow customers to shift another 15,000 containers from road to rail.
Lineas sees fast-increasing customer demand for more intermodal capacity between Belgium and Italy. After its successful launch of the daily Ghent-Segrate intermodal train in 2021, the company is adding another intermodal connection from North Sea Port to Italy, which will run 5 roundtrips per week. The new line connects with the Pesanti terminal in Piadena, right in the middle of the Milano, Verona, Bologna triangle.
“Customers are really looking to decarbonize their supply chain with smart and low-carbon rail transport, and this is exactly what we want to help them with. On top of the 70 trains we already run between Belgium and Italy, we are now creating capacity for another 15,000 containers to be shifted to rail. This is a real climate win with 9 times less carbon emissions equalling almost 9,000 tonnes of CO2 we keep out of the atmosphere every year.” Lars Redeligx, Chief Commercial Officer at Lineas.
The new line starts with 5 weekly roundtrips and the fill rate is currently at 80% filling up fast. Trains will carry cargo such as chemicals, steel, tiles, household goods, bulk, and powders in all types of containers.

New gateway to Italy

Lineas is the first operator to open the Pesanti terminal for intermodal volumes. With the Segrate terminal in high demand and close to saturation, Piadena (150km from Segrate) comes as a welcome second gateway to Italy. The terminal in Piadena is strategically located in the Milano, Verona and Bologna triangle, home to the tiles and steel industry. The new connection to Piadena follows a thorough research done with customers on what is needed on the North-South transport corridor.
“The Ghent-Segrate line has proven very successful. We have transported almost 10,000 containers since its launch about a year ago and demand is still growing. Customers are asking us to add extra capacity to the North-South corridor and we believe this new connection does exactly that: a fast, reliable and low-carbon rail solution right into one of Italy’s key industrial zones.” Frank Berweger, Sales Director at Lineas.
Strengthened partnership with North Sea Port
The Ghent-Piadena connection is another strong addition to the already high-quality rail portfolio that North Sea Port and Lineas have developed over the past years. With connections to Italy and Sweden, the partnership is currently keeping more than 30,000 return trips by truck off the road around the port and far into the European hinterland every year.
“We continue building this strong multimodal story at North Sea Port with an increasingly important role for low-carbon rail freight. The local Lineas team is a strong service partner to regional and international customers with an impressive track record. With this partnership we will continue to add great value to North Sea Port as an economic hub of high strategic importance in Europe.” Daan Schalck, CEO of North Sea Port