First Row Shipping & Logistics has launched a new freight train shuttle service between the Port of Gothenburg and Northern Sweden.
The new service is the latest in a series of rail shuttles connecting the growing industry in the Northern Europe with markets on other continents via the Port of Gothenburg’s shipping line network.
The shuttle is set to initially depart one day a week in each direction.
The train will arrive directly into APM Terminal’s container terminal in Gothenburg where the goods can be quickly reloaded onto ocean going ships.
“We see a huge need for this shuttle, and we have found goods flows that we barely knew existed that want to utilise it,” said Nikolas Rowland, CEO of First Row Shipping & Logistics.
“The fantastic thing about Umeå in particular is that the goods is so diversified, with many players creating a broad mix of, above all, industrial exports.”
The train has the capacity to transport 68 containers and will leave Gothenburg on Friday mornings. Every Saturday morning, it will arrive at the newly opened freight train terminal in Umeå.
The shuttle will then arrive back in Gothenburg every Sunday, where connecting ships wait with direct departures to Asia and the US.
The North of Sweden is said to be the backbone of the Swedish export industry and energy supply. Over the next 20 years, a significant amount is set to be invested in new industries.
“If all planned industrial investments in Norrland become a reality, it will be a historic series of investments in new technology and new industries that will largely contribute to green transformation. This will mean an increased need for transport,” said Anders Hjalmarsson, CEO of the Västerbotten Chamber of Commerce.
“It is unequivocally so. Much of what is to be produced is going south, at the same time as we will have a great need for input units for industry production in a northerly direction.
“But the need for sustainable transport applies to both shipping and rail, and therefore it is also good that both the Port of Umeå and the Port of Skellefteå have begun investments that further strengthen capacity in our region.”
According to Hjalmarsson, many major players in the transport sector are positioning themselves in the Norrland in the face of growing transport needs.
Green Cargo also recently launched a new freight shuttle between the Port of Gothenburg and Rosersberg, north of Stockholm.
The shuttle will depart six times a week and transport goods from Rosersberg to Gothenburg, for onward transit to France and the UK.
