ÖBB Rail Cargo Group forms new subsidiary in Serbia

© ÖBB/Heider Klausner

ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) has formed a new subsidiary in Belgrade. Rail Cargo Carrier – Southeast d.o.o. has made Serbia the 13th country in Europe in which RCG offers sustainable rail freight transport with its own staff and locomotives. The new railway undertaking will mainly provide transit services between Turkey and Central and South-Eastern Europe, thus strengthening RCG’s market-leading position in Turkey.

“As the sustainable logistics backbone of the European economy, we are now also able to offer Serbian industrial companies an efficient and sustainable connection to our network (TransNET),” Clemens Först, CEO for RCG, said. “Besides cost advantages and increased quality, in-house traction in 13 countries also offers a higher degree of flexibility. This means, for example, that we can now carry out transports to Turkey on two alternative routes – via Romania and via Serbia – in order to be more resilient to infrastructural restrictions.

The economic and sustainable potential of the new subsidiary

The connection with Turkey offers huge potential for sustainable, climate-friendly rail freight transport. As it stands, Turkish foreign trade is still heavily dependent on truck transports. Rail currently accounts for only about 1% of Turkey’s exports. By establishing the company in Serbia, RCG is ensuring that rail freight transport in South-Eastern Europe expands and becomes more attractive.

ÖBB is a leading rail logistics company in Europe. With efficient end-to-end logistics services, the company transports 94 million net tonnes of freight each year. ÖBB also has a modal share of 28% (preliminary value) of the total freight market in Austria.