Poland: CTL Logistics briefs British MPs on Polish rail freight market

Pawe³ Szymañski, Chief Financial Officer at CTL Logistics S.A., outlined CTL’s market position and strategy for its European business to Rail Freight Group, an asso-ciation of British MPs and managers, during its recent visit to Poland.

Szymañski pointed out that CTL is consistently expanding its rail transport and logistics operations in Poland, which is a secure basis for all its activities that will enable it to pro-vide international services.

CTL is making significant efforts outside Poland to obtain licenses to run its own rail operations in all the main EU markets. Last week, the company was granted a safety certificate in the Netherlands, a key prerequisite for transporting containers from North Sea ports to Central and Eastern Europe. CTL has also entered into agreements with coun-tries to the east of Poland, outside EU borders, i.e. beyond the liberalized transport area, allowing it to take and hand over block trains at borders and organize further transport in the wide gauge system.

CTL is also purchasing a fleet of multi-system locomotives suitable for international traffic and has deployed its own wagons wherever availability of equipment is vital for meeting customer requirements, such as for transporting cars.

In order to plan and manage trains on a uniform basis, CTL is currently establishing a unique Train Control Center for managing its entire rolling stock and staff deployment.

CTL Group

Headquartered in Warsaw, CTL Logistics S.A. is an international logistics enterprise that is one of the largest private railway operators in Europe. CTL offers comprehensive track and road cargo transport. Its range of offerings also include logistics services such as border and harbour transshipment, storage, customs clearance, wagon and tank car leas-ing, as well consignment tracking. The business has over 30 stations, 5,000 wagons, 170 engines, 138 kilometers of rail networks, as well as access to a fleet of trucks.

Founded in 1992, the CTL Group presently holds a 33 pct market share in Poland among private cargo rail transporter and is thus the uncontested leader in the field. The most significant of the total 20 companies in the CTL Group hold ISO-Certifications 9001/14001 and are listed in the SQAS system of the European Association of Chemical Distributors. In 2006 CTL Logistics handled approximately 40 million tons of goods and achieved reve-nues of EUR 250 million.