From January the container hinterland network Contargo will be offering a direct fixed-schedule rail connection between Neuss and Rotterdam with two round trips a week. With the Neuss Multimodal Express (NME) Contargo intends to establish a reliable alternative to barges.

On 11 January 2016 the first whole train will start out from Rotterdam. To begin with it will depart from Rotterdam twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, and on Tuesdays and Fridays it will set out from Neuss in the other direction. If there is a strong positive response, Contargo may increase the frequency to three round trips per week. In Rotterdam the train will call at the terminals APMT 1, ECT Delta and Euromax; in Neuss it will arrive and depart from Contargo’s terminal in the Flosshafenstrasse.

“With the Neuss Multimodal Express we are directly linking the Lower Rhine Region – from Duisburg to Krefeld, Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach, to Cologne – with Europe’s biggest seaport”, says Jürgen Albersmann, Managing Director of Contargo Neuss GmbH. “This rail product ideally complements our existing barge lines. Particularly in times of flooding or low water, when a reliable second option is needed, the new line provides an environmentally friendly alternative. The rail connection is also faster than the barge, so that where time-sensitive transports are concerned it can help to free up the overfilled autobahns in the Rhineland.”