The Czech and Slovak Republics lie at the very heart of Europe and their railway network is well equipped to handle not only interstate but also primarily international transport. It is no wonder, then, that the Czecho-Slovak border is often abuzz with activity. ČD Cargo transported nearly 15 million tonnes of goods last year through the three largest border crossings in Mosty u Jablunkova, Horní Lideč, and Lanžhot.
The two railway networks being nearly identical in design allowed cross-border transport to continue essentially uninterrupted following the split of the joint state on January 1, 1993. However, the time spent in border-crossing stations on customs and technical checks, and the switching of locomotives or engine drivers stretched the transport time significantly and subsequently made railways less competitive compared to roads. Today, the situation is different, and ČD Cargo's interoperable locomotives facilitate train operations without major delays in keeping with the "Across Europe" motto.
Subsidiary CD Cargo Slovakia
"We cooperate with a large number of carriers on cross-border transport," says Tomáš Tóth, chairman of the ČD Cargo Board, and goes on to add, "The state-owned carrier ZSSK Cargo is a major partner, but, in line with our expansion strategy, we're also seeing growth in transport volume provided in Slovakia by our 100% subsidiary company CD Cargo Slovakia." The company has become a fully authorized carrier on Slovak railways as of June 2020. Its first task on the 20th of June was transporting a train with LKW Walter trailers between the border-crossing stations of Kúty and Rajka. "CD Cargo Slovakia also focuses on transporting timber to Hungary and Romania. Additionally, we transport container trains and black coal. Furthermore, we operate a very interesting product train called Dracula terminating in Curtici, Romania – it is used to transport groups of freight cars from various customers, such as Škoda automobiles," specifies Tomáš Tóth. The company transported two million tonnes of goods last year, it operates its own locomotives as well as a strong fleet of freight cars. Some of its most interesting contracts are the transport of combine harvesters to Turkey, delivery of sugar beet from Záhoří for processing in the Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou sugar mill, or transporting gravel to various construction sites across Slovakia, including offloading. We can also arrange the smooth transport of special deliveries – the most interesting one in this sense was the transport of transformers weighing more than 160 tonnes to the Mochovce nuclear power plant.
Ore and fuel
Our cross-border cooperation with the carrier ZSSK Cargo is just as important for us. An example of such cooperation is the transport of iron ore from Ukraine, the import of which to the mills in Ostrava and Třinec wasn't too heavily impacted by the military conflict. Trains carrying ore are usually fitted with the Slovak "doubles" – heavy-duty freight locomotives capable of making the steep climb on the track leading through the Jablunkov pass. Another recent piece of business we've managed to secure is the transport of fuel produced in Bratislava's Slovnaft through Czechia to Poland. The fuel is also delivered to us by ZSSK Cargo at the Kúty cross-border station. And we mustn't forget about trains with individual wagon shipments.
Rail freight transport is currently being complicated by extensive service disruptions mainly in Slovakia. Their infrastructure is in dire need of modernization but there aren't enough lines to divert traffic onto.
THE COMPANY
ČD Cargo is the largest Czech rail carrier specializing in freight transport that handles around 60 million tonnes of goods per year, making it one of the largest carriers in the European Union.
It operates a fleet of nearly 700 locomotives, including state-of-the-art Vectron and TRAXX interoperable engines. ČD Cargo customers have access to nearly 20 thousand freight wagons of various types.
Through its branches and subsidiaries, ČD Cargo holds licenses to operate freight transport in seven European countries.
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