ÖBB Rail Cargo Group acquires Railway Undertaking Captrain Netherlands
The ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) continues to pursue its steady course of internationalisation and has purchased the Dutch Railway Undertaking (RU) Captrain Netherlands b.v. The acquisition between the parent company Captrain Holding Paris (SNCF) and the Rail Cargo Carrier Kft. was completed on 31 May, 2024 (Closing). The purchase price has not been disclosed.
– The expansion of the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group continues: after establishing subsidiaries in China and Serbia, the RCG is now expanding its international network within the Netherlands. I am delighted to welcome the new colleagues to the ÖBB team. Together we will connect the European economic centres with the ports of Europe and thus with the whole world – says Andreas Matthä, CEO of ÖBB.
– We are pleased to have found in the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group a buyer who is ready to warmly welcome all our employees, integrate them into its network, and offer new opportunities for the development of the company. The collaboration between the Austrian group and Captrain has strengthened over the past years, and this planned transaction is a new milestone – says Henrik Würdemann, Managing Director of the Captrain Deutschland Group, who has been responsible for the management of Captrain Netherlands to date.
Netherlands: Great Potential for Rail Freight Transport
RCG – the second largest rail logistics provider in Europe – is consistently expanding its position with this step.
Operating in 18 countries, 13 – and soon 14 – of which with its own traction and with transports extending to China, it is forming the backbone of the European economy. The Netherlands are of great geographical and strategic significance due to the direct connections of the ARA-Ports (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam) to Germany and the positioning of important train corridors and terminals (Geleen, Moerdijk). Furthermore, there is great interest to expand the modal split in line with climate goals.0
The Benelux countries are an important market for us. With the expansion of our own traction network we will also be able to handle our TransFER connections end-to-end as own traction in the future, adds Clemens Först, CEO of RCG.
Own traction, i.e. operating with own staff and locomotives, brings cost benefits as well as greater flexibility.
– And that means one thing above all: the best quality for our customers.
Established TransFER connections on the market
The RCG already operates its TransFER network connections with fixed timetables, such as the TransFER Linz–Duisburg–Rotterdam with four round trips per week, the TransFER Wolfurt–Rotterdam with two round trips per week or the TransFER Linz–Antwerp, which runs almost daily to and from the Benelux countries, and already successfully connects western Europe with Central, South and Southeastern Europe. With the takeover of the Dutch RU, the RCG extends its coverage to another region of Europe with its own staff and locomotives.
The RU Captrain Netherlands b.v. has been active in the Netherlands since 2007, focusing on organising and operating rail transports, with a focus on the Geleen and Moerdijk terminals as well as the Port of Rotterdam – the largest seaport in Europe and the third largest port in the world. Captrain Netherlands b.v. has 61 employees. In 2022, the company achieved a turnover of 12.2 million euros with a transport performance of 765 million tonne-kilometres. This makes the company the third largest in the Netherlands. The fleet consists of 7 locomotives, all dedicated to shunting and last-mile services, providing a significant advantage for end-to-end transports on the last mile.
Photo: © RCG
