PORT of LUBECK: May 07, 2018. European Cargo Logistics (ECL), a subsidiary of Lübeck port operator Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft (LHG), and logistics company DSV have launched an intermodal rail service to Zajeci in South Moravia, Czech Republic.

Dubbed the ‘Moravian Shuttle’, the new twice-weekly operation delivers trailers and containers between Scandinavia and the Czech Republic via the Lübeck-Travemünde (Baltic Rail Gate) intermodal terminal (pictured).

ECL says it expects to carry 7,000 units in the next 12 months and increase the frequency to four times a week in 2019. Managing director Jörg Ullrich explained: “Freight forwarders have everything they need here in Lübeck: a large number of ferry and rail links, plus short lead times and acknowledged high-quality handling.”

DSV Road deputy managing director Christian Gerdtsson said his company is always looking to reduce its environmental impact and the new service “will also help in the current market situation with high demand for transports and limited capacity in some areas due to lack of drivers”.

ECL reported a 17 percent growth in its intermodal network in 2017 with the carriage of over 30,000 units that would otherwise have travelled via road.

This year, in cooperation with Frankfurt-based block train operator Kombiverkehr, ECL is re-launching its ‘Ruhr Shuttle’ between Duisburg and Lübeck with 11 departures a week in a bid to take more trucks off highways.

LHG is Germany's largest port operator on the Baltic Sea and provides cargo handling, forwarding, intermodal, truck and railcar services.