Next stop: Norway

Norway is becoming an increasingly attractive place for German companies to do business. According to an economic survey from the German-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, almost one in five German companies have seen conditions for doing business with Norway improve. The feeling is mutual – after all, Germany is Norway’s second-most-important trading partner. Even so, getting the goods to Norway is no small feat. There is no direct connection by land and Norway lacks a link to DB Cargo’s single wagon network.

Ships cover the last mile

The tricky geography hasn't stopped sales experts developing new logistics solutions for Norway, however. The Danish village of Thyborøn, located in the municipality of Lemvig in the Midtjylland region, has recently come to play a key role here. Perched on the North Sea coast, Thyborøn is on the northern tip of the Harboøre Tange headland, which is separated by the Thyborøn Canal from another Danish promontory called Agger Tange. Thanks to DB Cargo, trains can now access Thyborøn from Germany. For this purpose, the route of the train going to Rønland had to be extended by five kilometers further to Thyborøn. From there, freight is handed off to ships bound for Norway.

“We’re hoping to turn Thyborøn into the main hub for Norway-bound freight,” says Thomas Vestergaard, Head of International Sales at DB Cargo Scandinavia. With the first few transports now under our belt, we've taken another step toward achieving this goal. We've transported 94 tonnes of steel girders from Germany to Thyborøn, where the freight was loaded onto the M/S With Frohavet and shipped on time to the Norwegian city of Trondheim.

First rail transports to Thyborøn in 20 years

"For the last 20 years, there haven't been any official rail transports to Thyborøn. That's changing now," says Vestergaard. "The first transports were a huge success thanks to a high level of flexibility in production and planning, and to Midtjyske Jernbaner and Thyborøn Stevedore, our local partner companies. We're grateful for all the assistance." A few days after the first shipments, two more wagons carrying a total of 72 tonnes arrived in Thyborøn, and more transports are planned for this route in future.