Rail Cargo Group launches new Vienna–Duisburg connection

TRIESTE – Rail Cargo Group, the freight division of the Austrian Federal Railways, has strengthened its connections with Germany and Turkey through the launch of the new TransFER Vienna–Duisburg and Sopron–Istanbul services.
The first connects two major logistics hubs in Austria and Germany, easing pressure on the TransFER Budapest–Duisburg route with two round trips per week. This creates additional capacity, reduces bottlenecks, and opens up new transport options. Customers will now benefit from fixed schedules, favorable transit times, and direct links to Hungary and Italy, as well as within Austria. Thanks to coordinated connections between Vienna and Budapest and between Vienna and Verona, transport options are available to both Southeast and Western European markets, along with efficient triangular routing between Vienna, Budapest, and Duisburg. Moreover, the TransFER Vienna–Duisburg can be ideally combined with existing services such as TransFER Budapest–Duisburg, TransFER Wels–Vienna–Budapest, and TransFER Budapest–Istanbul. For example, a transshipment in Vienna allows seamless continuation to Budapest and onward to Turkey.

Here, the main innovation lies in the shift of the TransFER Sladkovicovo–Istanbul to Sopron–Istanbul, now offering direct connections to Hungary. The frequency of the link will double to two round trips per week. This will provide customers with better planning, optimized first and last mile organization, and expanded storage and handling options throughout Eastern Europe. In addition to the TransFER Sopron–Istanbul, existing services have also been optimized to offer greater capacity and faster transit times: the TransFER Budapest–Istanbul will now run five times per week instead of four; the schedule of the TransFER Curtici–Tekirdag has been improved, allowing customers to plan their logistics more efficiently and reliably; the TransFER Genk–Curtici provides flexible transport options between Belgium and Romania, with five round trips per week and shorter transit times for shipments to Turkey.