A win-win solution between Kombiverkehr and MBOX Terminal will see the two partners extending their service network. The two companies have commenced a new collaboration that will see freight trains linking Wels in Austria and Niš in Serbia. The partnership is in effect already and starts by offering three weekly roundtrips between the two locations.
Kombiverkehr communicated that all dangerous goods except classes 1 and 7 can be transported on this route, and the MBOX Terminal can handle customs clearance. For the MBOX Terminal, which commenced operations about two years ago, the partnership with Kombiverkehr opens up connectivity possibilities with multiple connections within and outside Germany, including Duisburg Ruhrort Hafen, Munich-Riem, Ludwigshafen, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, the German Baltic Sea ports of Lübeck and Kiel, as well as Spain, France, Benelux, Great Britain, and Scandinavia.
Nevertheless, Kombiverkehr will also benefit by opening up to a new market with much regional and cross-border potential. According to Susana Jozinovic, sales representative South Eastern Europe for Kombiverkehr, the positioning of the MBOX Terminal seemed to align seamlessly with the Frankfurt-based company’s network expansion plans. It should be noted that more companies, like METRANS, for example, have been tapping into the Serbian and Balkan markets recently.
An increasingly important hub
The MBOX Terminal Niš in Serbia started making the headlines in the summer 2021 when the project was nearing completion. The terminal already serves block trains organised by CMA CGM that link to the Greek port of Thessaloniki also carrying sea-borne volumes since it is connected with eight maritime services.
Apart from the port of Thessaloniki, the Niš terminal also has frequent connections with the port of Rijeka in Croatia, Ljubljana, and the port of Koper in Slovenia. With those connections and the terminal’s location on the map, it is understandable that Niš could become an important destination and transit hub with a crossroads function.
