The Southern Express Rail Service between Genoa and Basel has achieved an operational milestone, transporting a record 1,000 TEUs in August this year. The rail link, established by PSA Italy and PSA Cargo Solutions to connect the Mediterranean port of Genoa and the Swiss Frenkendorf rail terminal in 2018, provides a reliable and cost-effective route for cargo owners to move their goods to central European markets.

Besides allowing cargo owners to build more resilience into their supply chain network, the service has also been found to be a more sustainable option with significantly less carbon emissions produced as compared to moving cargo by road, according to recent findings from a new carbon emissions simulation tool.

The tool, developed by German environmental software company EcoTransIT World (ETW), shows that cargo owners and companies can reduce carbon emissions by 83% and consume 49% less energy by using this Southern Express Rail Service compared with moving the same cargo by road.

PSA Italy’s Managing Director Roberto Ferrari said: “Companies these days are extremely interested in efficiency, but are also very concerned about energy costs and sustainability. The Southern Express not only reduces GHG and energy consumption compared to transportation by truck, it also saves up to seven days of time for companies that wish to ship goods to Switzerland from the Mediterranean, Middle East and the Far East, by using the train instead of sailing to increasingly congested northern ports.”

For more information, please click HERE for the press release.