LTG Cargo, the freight forwarding subsidiary of Lithuania's state-owned railway company Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways), has started transporting coal to Poland to help the neighboring country meet its demand for solid fuels, according to a press release issued on Monday.
The first freight train was on its way to Poland, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported on Monday.
Under a contract signed with the Poland's state importer, the coal is to be transported in special containers from the port of Klaipeda to Trakiszki, from where it will be shipped by LTG Cargo Polska to Bialystok and then by partners to Braniewo in northwest Poland, according to Lithuania's Ministry of Transport.
LTG Cargo and its partner Innofreight use specialized containers and platforms to switch between Lithuania's broad gauge tracks and Poland's standard European gauge tracks.
According to LTG cargo, the train will run once a week. Each train will carry 60 specialized containers loaded with coal.
LTG Cargo's Chief Executive Officer, Egle Sime, said that her company and the market in the region were both actively diversifying their logistics routes.
"Poland currently imports coal through its ports. However, increased demand is encouraging the search for new routes, including the transportation of extremely important cargo via Lithuania from the port of Klaipeda," Sime said in the press release.
It took "just a few months" for the company to prepare for the project, she added.
According to LTG cargo, the current plan is to transport around 5,000 tonnes of coal per month on the new route to Poland, with the volume expected to increase in the future. Solutions are also being sought to transport coal from Klaipeda via the Kaunas intermodal terminal.
The European Union's (EU) prohibition on the imports of Russian energies worsened EU's energy crisis. The shortage of electricity, gas, and oil in Poland caused higher energy prices and thus boosted their demands for coal, which is much cheaper than other energies.
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