Germany To Turkey Through Balkans Haulage By Rail Cargo Group

On 5 April 2014 the Rail Cargo Group (RCG) started using its own motive power in Romania and Bulgaria for its freight services which were established in recent years, linking Germany and Turkey. At present RCG runs five train pairs per week on this route, three of them linking Duisburg and the port of Tekirdag. On this service RCG is partnered by the Turkish freight company BALO, which is aiming to increase the amount of railfreight traffic between Turkey and Europe. ÖBB Produktion’s 1116 071 provided haulage between Sopron and Nova Zagora, just with diesel haulage required on the non-electrified Bucuresti - Ruse section, where the locomotive was provided from RCG’s Romanian fleet. The photos show the train on 8 April at Petrosani, in Romania, and the following day at the Bulgarian border station of Ruse.