BUCHAREST (Romania), November 21 (SeeNews) – Romanian railway freight transportation group Grampet said on Wednesday that it has started operations in Serbia through its local subsidiary Eurorail Logistics.
The expansion comes as Serbia has liberalized its rail freight transport market this year, Grampet said in a press release.
The first train of Eurorail Logistics Serbia transported goods using the company's own resources and Serbian personnel. It travelled from Subotica (at Serbia's border with Hungary) to Surcin (close to Belgrade). A new train transporting goods will be leaving from Surcin to the Romanian border, to be taken over by Grup Feroviar Roman.
Grampet Group rail operators are thus closing a freight transportation circle, which results into a stronger regional development through better connectivity, the company said.
With a growing portfolio of clients, Eurorail Logistics Serbia plans to hire over 100 people in 2019, especially mechanics, engineers, dispatchers and rolling stock examiners, according to the press release.
“This is a first-of-a-kind transport, since we are delivering and connecting clients’ orders through more countries, especially Serbia, soon after the local market’s liberalization of freight rail transport. We are, actually, the first Romanian private operator currently operating in the neighboring country,” Grampet Group-Grup Feroviar Roman chairman Gruia Stoica said.
“As a result, we are consolidating our regional leading position and our international profile, Grampet Group being the first Romanian multinational with presence in Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova, Serbia, Slovakia, Croatia, Austria, Germany and, more recently, Greece, and with an expansion strategy in seven more countries," Stoica added.
Established almost 20 years ago, Grampet is the largest private rail freight and logistics operator in Romania and in Central and Southeastern Europe, comprising 16 companies. Its flagship company, Grup Feroviar Roman, is the biggest private railway transport operator in Romania, with a market share of approximately 30%.
The operator has agreements with sister companies in the group, as well as with state-owned and private rail operators in Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova, Serbia, Slovakia, Croatia, Austria, Germany, and Greece.
In September, Grampet joined the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) Association, which is an initiative of the governments of China, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for the development of a new Asia - Europe multimodal transport corridor.