Lineas has acquired the Rotterdam-based operator Independent Rail Partner (IRP) to strengthen its presence in the Port of Rotterdam and on the Dutch market. The move is part of Lineas’ growth strategy to shift the road transport to railways.
Independent Rail Partner is expert in first and last mile services in the Rotterdam region and a leading operator in the country connecting the largest port of Europe to the rest of the Netherlands. The company, founded in 2011, is based in Zwijndrecht, in the western Netherlands. With a strong presence in the Port of Rotterdam and an extensive coverage in the Dutch market, the company provides services for other rail freight operators. Independent Rail Partner employs 35 people and has a fleet of 12 locomotives.
For Lineas the Port of Rotterdam is of significant strategic importance in its Green Xpress Network which uniquely connects many of the Western ports to the rest of Europe and sees the Rotterdam connection now reinforced.
The acquisition will allow Lineas and IRP to extend their already good collaboration and further integrate their operations to offer even better solutions for customers: shorter transit times, new operational capabilities, and new Xpress connections from Rotterdam. The combination of IRP’s strong local expertise with Lineas’ European network will provide customers with a fast, easy, reliable and full end-to-end solution between the Western ports and the whole of Europe.
Consisting of daily, fast and reliable rail connections between European hubs for all types of cargo, the Green Xpress Network reduces transport times up to 80% compared to traditional single wagon load. Completed end-to-end with first and last mile services, it drastically lowers the threshold for companies to shift to rail. Especially over the past year, the Green Xpress Network has proven to be a very robust solution helping customers to keep their supply chains running during the pandemic.
Having grown the Green Xpress Network to 23 destinations throughout Europe, more recently adding Vorarlberg (Austria) and Poland, the acquisition of IRP sees Lineas take the next step in its European growth strategy. The aim is to gain speed through acquisitions and partnerships and build a true rail backbone for European freight transport that enables the modal shift.
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