Scandinavian rail joint venture set to start operations

Scandinavian rail joint venture set to start operations    Railion Scandinavia, a rail transport joint venture between Germany’s Deutsche Bahn and Swedish freight company Green Cargo, has received all the supervisory board approvals, official licenses and permits necessary to start operations.
   Under terms of the joint venture agreement, Green Cargo acquired a 49 percent shareholding in Railion Danmark — part of Deutsche Bahn’s transport and logistics unit DB Schenker — which then changed its name to Railion Scandinavia.
   “The objective pursued by DB and Green Cargo in the new shareholding structure is to achieve more efficient production on the north-south link between the Nordic countries and Central Europe, and consequently, to be more competitive in rail freight transportation. The joint venture will assume responsibility for production, while DB and Green Cargo will continue to be in charge of sales,” DB Schenker said in a statement.
   Railion Scandinavia will provide a high-frequency single-car freight service between the two hubs of Malm' in Sweden and Hamburg-Maschen in Germany, and for selected block-train routes beyond those points. The range of services will include carload and intermodal transportation services. For the international services, the joint venture has ordered 23 new multi-system Class 185 locomotives.