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Customers of LTG Cargo, the freight transportation company of the Lietuvos Geležinkeliai Group (LTG), which is actively diversifying its operations, have saved almost 70 million kilograms of carbon dioxide in 2022 by transporting intermodal freight by railways between Lithuania and the Western countries.

“We are developing our company’s activities along the core lines of diversification, efficiency and sustainability. In the few years that we have been organising intermodal railway freight transportation in Lithuania, we have already seen the special potential of this type of transportation. Moving freight from road to railway over long distances can be more sustainable and safer. In addition, even individual customer containers can be transported by rail in this way. Furthermore, from now on we will be able to calculate in a clear and certified way how much our customers have contributed to the environmental conservation namely by transporting their goods intermodally,” says Eglė Šimė, CEO of LTG Cargo.

In Western Europe, the intermodal freight segment has been growing rapidly for more than a decade. Lithuania joined the intermodal railway freight network in summer 2021 with the opening of Kaunas Intermodal Terminal. LTG Cargo has developed a methodology to fixate the CO2 savings of intermodal freight in order to reveal and assess the contribution of its customers to the environmental sustainability of this type of freight. In 2022, certificates confirming the customers’ achievements in conserving the environment will be awarded to around 150 companies.

Currently, intermodal freights can be shipped to Duisburg in Germany, as well as to Slavkov in Poland, and from these terminals – to other European countries. In this way, it is convenient to transport by railway between Lithuania and the Western countries not only raw materials needed for industry, but also various types of equipment, furniture, car parts, industrial, household and other everyday commodities.

It is estimated that each container or trailer transported by railway from Kaunas to Duisburg saves almost 4,000 kg of CO2.

According to Povilas Drižas, head of the International Transport and Logistics Alliance (ITLA), the direct connection of Kaunas Intermodal Terminal to the European railway network speeds up the regular services between Lithuania and the main European industrial centres, when trailers of trucks are transported by train.

Such combined freight transportation allows transport companies to save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions into the environment.

“Multimodal freight transportation opens up vast opportunities for the development of smart logistics hubs and for increasing the country’s competitive advantage in the international transportation market. Increasing competition in the global freight transportation market and stricter environmental requirements prompt major transport and logistics companies to invest in sustainable infrastructure,” says P. Drižas.

Intermodal transportations help customers to balance their logistics chains, manage inflation and allow them to transport freight with a CO2 footprint up to 90% less.

By granting these certificates, LTG Cargo plans to cooperate even more actively with road transport companies and freight forwarders in order to develop solutions for the combined transportation of long-distance freight by rail and road.

Similar certificates are now available in several other European countries. In Germany, businesses can already recover some of their taxes today if they choose to transport their goods by using methods that correspond to the Green Deal. By 2030, around 30% of freight transported more than 300 km by road is expected to have to be transported by non-polluting transport – primarily intermodal trains.

LTG Cargo’s CO2 emission savings are calculated in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessment Methodology of Intermodal Freight Transportation developed and approved by LTG. The greenhouse gas assessment presented in the methodology is in accordance with the provisions of LST EN 16258:2013.

ITLA brings together the country’s largest international transport and logistics companies. The association members exclusively handle international freight operations in Europe, Asia and other regions of the world in all modes of transport, including road, air, water and rail.