23 Jul 2021
Sofia, Cargo transport in Bulgaria is highly dominated by road. In the mid-2000s, railways remained a major mode of freight transportation, but with increasing problems with the maintenance of the infrastructure and lowering speeds, highways carried a progressively larger share of freight.
 
As the global integrator of container logistics- A.P. Moller - Maersk. plumps for rail transportation in Bulgaria and from today on offers cargo block train services in both directions -import and export- from Burgas port to Plovdiv, the second-largest city in the country connecting the capital of Sofia with daily truck shuttle.

Cost and service

“Maersk size and presence in Bulgaria gives us a unique position to strengthen the logistics landscape in the country. We have offered our customer not just changing from truck to rail but connecting rail to their supply chains in a way that presents additional value to their logistics and business." Maersk is at the forefront of developing innovative supply chain solutions
 
"We provide them resilience and opportunity to exponentially grow in capacity when needed; flexibility because we are able to adjust to individual requirements and with 3 days pre-advice we can arrange additional trip of the block train; reliability in cost and service as well as safety as accident cost associated with road freight are 20 times higher than rail, ” explains Sedef Ayhan, Managing Director for EMEA at Maersk.

CO2 Emissions

Jysk Bulgaria - the Danish retail chain - and Mondi Paper - a front-runner in packaging and paper - are the first companies to engage this new service in Bulgaria which increase free time at Plovdiv rail depot by helping in inventory management and decrease CO2 emissions as rail freight produces 16 times less carbon pollution than road.

"This service is key for us to increase supply chain resilience and agility through the current challenging times. By including rail, we save 40 km from Burgas to Sofia. The fact that the rail travels by night and gathers big lots helps us to get better transit times and overall, we reduce CO2 emissions in our supply chain, as rail freight produces 16 times less carbon pollution than road freights," said Jaroslaw Sobczyk, Logistics Director of Jysk Bulgaria.

Maersk is at the forefront of developing innovative supply chain solutions, fusing its global network as well as its intermodal offering and depth of expertise with pioneering digital innovations to enable our customers to stay ahead.