MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's leading railroad container transportation company TransContainer together with the South Korean logistics operator Hanaro TNS (HTNS) and the European logistics service provider JTC have launched a new container train on the route from Dobra, Slovakia to Vorsino, Russia, the Russian company said on Friday.
"The first container train of 57 standard cars, transporting cargo for the Samsung Electronics plant left Dobra on October 6, 2014 and arrived at Vorsino [station] in Moscow on October 9, 2014," the statement said.
According to the statement, it took the container train three days to cover the distance of 1,637 kilometers (1017 miles). The train is expected to make the journey two or three times per month.
"Test transportations have shown that the new Dobra-Vorsino route is very attractive due to its transit time, optimal in terms of cost, and able to compete with cargo transportation on trucks from Central and Southern Europe," the statement noted.
In 2008 TransContainer and Cargo Slovakia (ZSSK Cargo) signed a 15-year lease agreement for the Dobra freight terminal. Currently the terminal is operated by TransContainer subsidiary, TransContainer – Slovakia. The terminal's capacity reaches 255,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) a year.
TransContainer has also expressed interest in acquiring ZSSK Cargo.
TransContainer is the largest owner of specialized rolling stock in Russia, the CIS and the Baltic States, holding 47 percent of the Russian rail container transportation market. Russia's RZD owns 50 percent + 2 shares of JSC TransContainer, FESCO Transportation Group – 24.1 percent, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – 9.3% and Transfingroup Asset Management (manager of pension assets of Blagosostoyanie pension fund) – 11.2 percent.
