At the end of 2018, PSA launched the pioneering direct rail connection between Genoa and Basel, the ‘Mittelmeerzug’ (MMZ)
The historic intermodal link provides import/export companies in Switzerland, Austria and Central Europe with a direct rail connection to the Port of Genoa, and offers up to a seven-day reduction in transit time – the additional sailing time required to call at the Northern European ports – thereby avoiding the unpredictability of the barge connections southwards.
Amid the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Southern European ports remain open and are fully operational and, despite the incident on the Swiss railway line between Basel and Freiburg last week, the PSA Mittelmeerzug train between Central Europe and the Port of Genoa is running, as scheduled.
The ‘Mittelmeerzug’ (MMZ) offers three round-trips per week between Genoa and Basel and, on all rotations, can cater for high-cube containers and shipments with ADR freight. The train is 440 metres long, with a capacity of 1,250 tons.