Shipping giant MSC and Italian railway company FS Group are very close to implementing a joint project that will see the integration of sea and rail services in Italy on the basis of intermodal transport. The two companies signed an MoU in Geneva targeting “greater and more effective synergies between maritime and rail transport.”

The planning is not yet concrete as the initial deal aims to examine whether such plans will be of mutual interest for the two companies. The memorandum’s implementation will take place under the responsibility of the companies Mercitalia Logistics and MEDWAY and MEDLOG parts of the FS Group and MSC Group, respectively.

The companies involved will assess the possibility of joint developments in terminal management, intermodal network and railway services. At the same time, they will examine their potential cooperation in asset and equipment sharing. “Our group, through MEDLOG and MEDWAY, has a strong presence in Italy and Europe. The partnership with the FS Group plays a crucial role in developing our business, both for port and in-land terminals and for testing new gateways,” said Giuseppe Prudente, chief logistics officer at MSC and president of MEDLOG.

Tests already underway

MSC underlined that the memorandum did not come out of the blue. Instead, the two groups are already setting the foundation for their future cooperation via a partnership on shunting services and railway transport between the Gioia Tauro port and the Padova Interporto terminal.

In fact, the specific ‘preliminary’ partnership is part of MSC’s Fast Corridor concept, which reduces customs operations between different terminals. The rail service is tractioned by Mercitalia, which also proves FS Group and MSC’s commitment to pairing their services more intensely in the future.

Also read:

• Fast Corridor is the future for rail freight, and MSC knows it
• FS will take over a rail route to the port of Gioia Tauro