VTG has kicked off the year by strengthening its presence in Europe. The company is now even closer to its customers, thanks to its own wagon hire branch office in Scandinavia, a new mobile services base in Hamburg and a common office for the Railcar and Rail Logistics divisions in Vienna. The new location in the Swedish town of Trelleborg enhances VTG’s involvement in Scandinavia. VTG Rail Europe’s headquarters in Hamburg was previously responsible for the region, where local support was provided by the partners Nordic Rail Logistics (NRL) and the commercial agent Ib Pallesen in Denmark. “Successful cooperation between VTG Rail Europe and NRL and Ib Pallesen over the past years has strengthened our presence in the Scandinavian rail freight market. This positive development has prompted us to expand our activities in Scandinavia even further. The new office, with the well-established local contact network in Sweden, will help us in aligning ourselves even more closely with the requirements of the Scandinavian market” says Sven Wellbrock, Managing Director of VTG Rail Europe GmbH.
The speed at which Waggonwerk Brühl, which is part of the VTG Group, can reach customers with its mobile service has also increased. Since mid-December last year, the mobile maintenance teams are represented from their own service base in Hamburg. Staff can now be deployed to carry out repairs and maintenance work directly at customer premises in Hamburg and the greater area of northern Germany. The new base is situated on Blohm+Voss’ traditional shipyard premises in the Port of Hamburg, where it was initiated within the context of VTG’s integrated training program: VTG RailTrain. The presence in Hamburg supplements the teams in Wesseling, Syke, Schwarzheide and Lutherstadt Wittenberg. “The digital future of the wagon hire business will increasingly require mobile, flexible and foresighted operations to be performed directly on wagons and on tracks. Consequentially, ongoing network expansion measures in the form of additional service support centers are scheduled for 2018.” continues Sven Wellbrock.
Furthermore, in January, the Austrian VTG Rail Europe and VTG Rail Logistics offices relocated to a new, common location in Vienna. This move enables VTG to facilitate cross-disciplinary cooperation and offer its customers even faster integrated rail transport solutions.