On the night of Saturday, 5th of March, a first container trial train with reefer cargo, mostly fruits and vegetables, has left port of Koper towards Rotterdam for the final delivery on north European markets. The activity is part of the EU project Fresh Food Corridors (FFC). The cargo, which belongs to some major Israeli exporters, has reached the Port of Koper on Friday via the ‘motorways of the sea’ and continued its route on railway.

The shipment represents a kind of a record and an innovation, because it’s the first block train – loaded solely with reefer containers – that crossed Europe from south reaching northern destinations. The port of Koper expressed its satisfaction for being the first to have been chosen for the trial trip. Cargo that usually travels by ship from Israel to the north European ports will arrive on the same destination in a 6 days shorter time.

The challenges of the project are related to the sustainability of the logistic product in terms of cargo volumes and transport costs as well as technical solutions that guarantee adequate temperature conditions for the goods till their final destination.

Most of the efforts in the coming months will be focused to the optimization of the railway service aiming to shorten the transit times and fulfil the railway capacities with back cargo. Within the FFC project similar trial trains will departure also via the ports of Venice and Marseille-Fos.