A new rail freight connection between the Halkali terminal in Istanbul and Antwerp in Belgium has been available in the market for a few days now. The service, which has a long-distance setup, focuses on high cube containers and also stops in Duisburg. From the Benelux area, cargo can reach the UK via the port of Hull.

For the specific service, Gopet Trans collaborates with Hupac. The two companies have a long-standing partnership, which was also “a key criterion for the Turkey-Belgium link since it would ensure a high-level service,” says Gopet.

The logistics provider, founded in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1995, is an expert of the Balkan transport market, while it opened its Turkish subsidiary two years ago. It started working on the Halkali-Antwerp service with some project-based shipments for a few clients in 2021, and as it saw demand growing, it decided to make it a stable connection.

First but promising service

“This is our first set up between Turkey and Belgium. In 2020 Gopet Trans opened a new subsidiary in Istanbul, Turkey. As a result, we are now developing the local range of services, and intermodal is a logical step as there is strong development potential. We are now working on expanding the portfolio of clients using this service,” says the company.

The intermodal service carries mainly 45 high cube containers since, according to Gopet, they offer a higher level of security and integrity of goods and are friendlier in terms of terminal operations. “While we are using semitrailers on other setups (especially the ones running from Romania and Bulgaria), we don’t consider at this point integrating them on this particular route,” mentions the company.

To Benelux and further

Gopet’s trains travelling between Halkali and Antwerp make a fixed stopover in Duisburg while stoping in other destinations is an open possibility according to customers’ needs. After Duisburg, trains go to Antwerp.

From there, the logistics company handles cargo directly and transports it to the port of Zeebrugge, where it is transhipped on vessels that travel to the port of Hull in the UK for further distribution.

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