The Venice Express

FESCO Transportation Group has organized regular container trains from Verona (Italy) to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and back. The new routes complement the company's existing service - FESCO European Railway Network. Trains depart on the territory of Europe once a week.

The first train with 86 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent of a container - Ed.) arrived in Moscow on September 26. Its terminal point was Silikatnaya station (Moscow main line).

On its way the rolling stock passed through the Malaszewicze-Brest border crossing (between Poland and Belarus), where containers were reloaded to platforms of 1520 mm gauge. Then, as part of an express train, the cargoes proceeded in the direction of Russia. Routes connecting the Italian city with St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg pass through the same checkpoint.

As 1520.international was told by Maksim Bukhanov, Deputy Director for Business Development of LLC "FESCO Integrated Transport" (a member of FESCO Group), the company is witnessing a great interest from its clients and a stable cargo flow in this direction.

"The range of transported cargoes is diverse and includes pasta, oil, pet food, and equipment. The total transit time is from 15 to 18 days from Verona to Moscow", - Maxim Bukhanov added.

Market experts expect that the new routes may become popular in the transportation market.

Andrey Tikhomirov, head of the Department of Macroeconomics and Forecast Methodology of IERT JSC, says that until September 2022 there were no regular container routes directly connecting Russia and Italy through the Malaszewicze-Brest border crossing. 

"Subject to stability of international transport logistics conditions, it is possible to develop deliveries of Italian goods to major cities of Russia, as certain types of products of shippers from Northern Italy are quite in demand in the Russian market," he noted.

These are consumer goods (primarily clothing, leather goods, footwear), machinery and equipment (above all those intended for production and technological purposes), food products, as well as construction materials (ceramic tiles, stone products). In Verona there are enterprises of metallurgical, machine-building, chemical, pharmaceutical, light, woodworking, printing and food industries, as well as production of construction materials.

According to Denis Semenkin, Deputy Chairman of the Rolling Stock Operators Association, Verona is also a big transport hub conveniently situated in relation not only to other Italian cities, but also countries (in particular, Switzerland). In this regard, cargoes of various European manufacturers and various nomenclatures may be accumulated in Verona.

Denis Semenkin believes that today many European producers are still targeting the Russian market. Therefore, the new FESCO routes will make it possible to meet the shippers' demand against the background of the complicated logistics environment.

Anna Yakusheva

10 October 2022