The document was signed in Vienna on behalf of Rail Cargo Logistics - Hungaria (RCL - HU) by Gábor Márta, Managing Director and János Zagyi, Logistics Director, and on behalf of VTG Rail Logistics Hellas by Zoltán Potvorszki and Stelios Archontakis, Managing Directors.
The importance of the contract is indicated by the fact that it was concluded in the presence of Imre Kovács, Member of the Board of the Rail Cargo Group, Chairman of the Board of Rail Cargo Hungaria (RCH), Norbert Körös, Member of the Board of RCH, CEO and Günther J. Ferk Managing Director of VTG Rail Logistics Europe. The reason for the participation of the top managers of the two groups of companies is that the parties want to extend their cooperation in other directions and with other traffics as well.
The first agreement was reached between the two companies in 2018, and the cooperation has recently developed dynamically mainly in the field of single wagon transport in the direction of the Balkans. In its scope, RCL - HU in cooperation with VTG Rail Logistics Hellas, the largest partner of the project, runs block trains, within the TransFER Budapest–Balkans rail project, to Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, with the collection and shunting of the single wagons as an additional logistics solution.
The cooperation significantly promotes maintaining eco-friendly rail transport between the countries of Western and Northern Europe and South-East Europe. Between 2018 and 2020, the two companies contribute with 9-10 thousand freight wagons a year to the reduction of the traffic burden of the road, hence there are daily 50-55 trucks less on the road and emissions are reduced by thousands of tonnes annually.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, block trains to the Balkan markets contributed to the stability of the supply of goods of the Southern European countries. The border closures in March and April blocked road freight traffic to many countries. On the other hand, trains of the Balkan train project smoothly forwarded the goods to their destination with a transport time similar to road transport. The transit time was further reduced, it currently takes 3 days to reach Greece from Budapest and up to five days to reach Turkey.
With the end of the declared public health emergency, traffic increases continuously and at the same time, positive steps have been taken to shift freight transport from Southern countries to northern European markets to rail.
The signed agreement enables preserving these results and promoting eco-friendly transport until 13 December 2023.