Intermodal services, or those using two or more transport modes, helped the company reduce its carbon emissions by over 206,000 tonnes after it redirected more than 565,000 tonnes of freight away from road-only transport, Gopet Trans said in a press release on Thursday.
Gopet Trans has been providing intermodal transport services since 2013 and has a well-developed network of routes connecting Bulgaria, Romania and northern Greece with the intermodal map of Central Europe, Poland, Spain and the UK.
Looking ahead, Gopet Trans noted that intermodal transport will face tough challenges over the next couple of years. They will stem from planned upgrades of European railway infrastructure, with some already underway in Germany, Hungary and Romania. This is set to reduce the frequency and capacity of railway services between Romania and western Europe, according to the company.
"These factors are compelling us to redirect some of the goods back to trucks on the road. This step is inevitable, as it is important for us to provide our customers with security in delivery planning," Polya Bocheva, Gopet Trans intermodal transport manager, said. She added that the company will aim to restore sustainable transport services as soon as works on the railway infrastructure upgrades are over.
The EU Commission is prioritising the development of the trans-European transport networks (TEN-T), with 11.3 billion euro in funding allocated for 2021-2027 to the transport sector in the 15 countries that benefit from the Cohesion Fund, including all five EU member states from Southeast Europe. As much as 1.56 billion euro of the transport budget will finance major rail projects between Cohesion Fund countries.
In 2022,13.6 billion tonnes of goods were carried on EU roads, according to EU Commission data. The Commission is also working on revising the combined transport directive, last amended in 1992, in order to make freight transport more sustainable in line with the Green Deal. This will mean measures to support combining truck transport with trains, barges or short sea shipping.
Earlier this year, Gopet Trans said that by 2030, it aims to grow by 20% the shipments it delivers by intermodal transport as part of decarbonisation efforts.
Founded in 1995, Gopet Trans serves more than 5,000 clients across Europe and generated a revenue of 335 million levs ($182.9 million/171.3 million euro) in 2022. The company offers transport and logistics services in Bulgaria and Greece, where it also has warehousing and distribution operations, as well as in Romania, Poland and Spain. It entered the Turkish market in 2020.
