PSA Italy has announced the launch of the Stuttgart Express rail service, which will connect PSA Genova Pra’ terminal with Stuttgart in Southern Germany twice weekly.
The service will run for the first time on 4 May 2023 and will provide a fast, reliable, cost-effective and sustainable alternative to transporting containers between Italy and Germany.
Stuttgart Express will depart at 05:00 hours Monday and Thursday from Genova Pra’ terminal and at 19:00 hours on Tuesday and Friday from Kornwestheim in Stuttgart.
Moreover, the up-to-500 metres long train will transport containers between the Italian coast and Southern Germany with a transit time of fewer than 24 hours.
This is the second international round-trip container rail service that PSA Italy operates directly from its Genova Pra’ terminal. In 2018, the operator launched the thrice-weekly ‘Southern Express’ service that links the Genova port with Basel in Switzerland.
PSA Italy expects 94% of trains to arrive within two hours of the scheduled arrival time at a cost that is significantly lower than transporting a container by road.
Αdditionally, according to a tool developed by the environmental NGO Ecotransit World, switching from trucks to the Stuttgart Express will reduce carbon emissions by 83% and energy consumption by 49%, compared to transporting containers by road along the Transalpine corridor.
The capacity and efficiency of both Stuttgart and Southern Express services will increase in the next couple of years with two planned upgrades. Firstly, the Italian railway infrastructure provider RFI will lay an additional 750 metres of rail tracks in PSA Genova Pra’ terminal, as part of its expansion of the nearby Voltri station.
Secondly, the third Pass of the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T) Rhine-Alpine Core Corridor rail line (also known as Terzo Valico) will become operational.
These two upgrades combined will allow Stuttgart and Southern Express block trains to extend to 750 metres in length.
