As of August 2023, two car trains have been departing monthly from the BLG AutoTerminal Kelheim for Köseköy in a pilot project. Köseköy is one of the largest logistics centers of the Turkish state railroad and the closest freight terminal near the Turkish city of Istanbul.
In total, the car trains consist of 19 car transport wagons, which can transport 190 to 228 cars, depending on the load factor. On its way to Turkey, the train passes through Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. The BLG car trains are the first to travel through the 13.6-kilometer Marmaray Tunnel. This tunnel connects the Asian part of Turkey with Europe. For a long time, the tunnel was only accessible to passenger traffic. Now freight trains are also allowed to pass between one and four o'clock at night.
"Rail transport to Turkey is forward-thinking. It is an attractive, sustainable and competitive transport offer from Germany to Turkey with a transit time of five to six days. We can thus cover a very long distance without reloading. This means that we can load the train once and drive it all the way to its destination without stopping," explains Oliver Fabian, Head of Sales at BLG AutoRail GmbH. The client is a freight forwarder working for the Turkish vehicle importer.
The pilot phase will run until the end of the year. The experience so far has been positive, explains Oliver Fabian: "We will closely analyze our experience gained during the pilot phase. We are proud that we can link rail-bound vehicle logistics internationally with Turkey with our successful range of services.”
