TX Logistik conducted two test services with an 838-meter train between Malmö and Frövi in ​​Sweden. The rail operator carried out the pilot services in collaboration with its customer Coop and with the Swedish transport infrastructure authority Trafikverket.

TX Logistik completed a test run with a 838-metre-long train full of Coop-groceries between Maschen in Germany and Malmö in Sweden. During the test journey, which took place on 8 and 9 May, the train ran with a four-axle locomotive and reached speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour. That is much faster than tests in other countries, according to the company.

Not the first one

“An extension to 838 meters would significantly increase transport capacity and make rail freight transport even more efficient and attractive to shippers”, said Lars Winther Sørensen, General Manager of TX Logistik AB. The train covered a distance of 500 kilometers, loaded with 48 trailers with foodstuffs for Coop.

TX Logistik’s 838m train sounds impressive, especially in the context of the length restrictions on the European railway network. However, it is not the first train of more than 800 meters to run on Swedish tracks.

Last year around this time, DB Cargo, DB Netze, Trafikverket and Banedenmark, the Danish infrastructure manager, teamed up to test an 835-meter train between Maschen in Germany and Malmö in Sweden. The train traveled through Denmark and over the Oresund Bridge that connects the country with Sweden. It was the first time that such a long train crossed this bridge.

In general, the maximum train length in Sweden is 630 meters. An important exception is the Ore Line between Luleå and Narvik, where freight trains can be 750 meters long.

Sustainable partner

As for Coop, the customer of the service, it is not surprising that this company was involved in such a test. Coop has been transporting its products by rail in Sweden since 2009. Since 2012, Coop has been cooperating with TX Logistik on the route between Bro, near Stockholm, and Malmö. Two years ago, the weekly return journeys of this service doubled from ten to twenty.

“Today, 30 per cent of our transports are handled by rail,” emphasises Peter Rosendahl, transport manager at Coop Logistik. However, the company wants to include even more rail services in its supply chain and so it took part in the specific project. “We hope to be able to extend our train lengths in the near future,” said Rosendahl.