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In the six years since it began operations, LTG Cargo’s Polish subsidiary, LTG Cargo Polska, has grown from a single employee at the outset into a major player in the rail sector, with an office in the German capital, Berlin. The company now operates 21 locomotives and a fleet of up to 300 wagons, employs a team of 150 staff, and is entering a new phase in Western Europe having been granted a rail transport licence in Germany. 

 According to Laimonas Nekrošius, the head of LTG Cargo Polska, the company’s most significant achievement is that the business was built from scratch in a highly competitive market. “LTG Cargo Polska was not an existing business that we acquired; we built the organisation from the ground up, so developing a stable and competitive business within six years was our greatest achievement,” says L. Nekrošius. 

Today, the company operates in one of Europe’s largest rail freight markets. There are around 70 rail freight operators in Poland, so competition there is considerably fiercer than in the Baltic states.  

Nevertheless, LTG Cargo Polska has managed to establish itself on strategically important routes. According to the company’s director, the firm is currently one of the strongest carriers on the Lithuania–Poland corridor and in the Ukraine–Poland border region.  

“Shippers operating on routes to Ukraine, the Baltic states and Poland are increasingly turning to us first. This enables us to occupy strong positions in some of the region’s most important transport corridors,” says L. Nekrošius.  

Germany has become the next logical step 

L. Nekrošiuscites the granting of a rail transport licence in Germany as one of the most significant events of this year. This enables the LTG Cargo Group to independently expand its operations into yet another European market and strengthen its international route network. 

The licence, obtained in June, marked the completion of a key strategic phase in the development of a transport corridor linking the Baltic states, Ukraine and Germany via Poland. The company’s first office has already opened in Berlin, and the first employees have joined the team. 

According to L. Nekrošius, Germany was the final missing link in the creation of a promising logistics corridor. “Our main focus today is on the route triangle between the Baltic states, Ukraine and Germany. Transport operations take place daily along these routes, but we still provide some of our services in Germany in collaboration with partners. We are aiming for greater control, efficiency and uniform quality standards throughout the chain, so the opportunity to operate independently in Germany was the next logical step for us,” he says. 

In his view, expansion in Germany is important not only for the company itself, but also for the entire LTG Group. Working on the European-gauge network enables the company to build up expertise for future operations on the Rail Baltica line and to strengthen the Group’s position in the Western European market.  

In a competitive market, the most important asset is trust  

According to the head of LTG Cargo Polska, the biggest challenge at the start of operations was not technical or infrastructure issues, but earning customers’ trust.  

“It is not enough to have locomotives or a team. You have to prove that you can offer customers real value and successfully compete with carriers that have been operating in the market for a long time,” notes L. Nekrošius.  

According to him, the Polish rail freight sector is currently facing a range of economic challenges, which is why it is particularly important for customers to choose reliable partners who can guarantee stable services and long-term cooperation.  

Investments in new segments  

The company has recently been actively investing in intermodal transport as well. One of the most notable projects this year was the acquisition of 72 specialised wagons for the transport of semi-trailers. These wagons are already in use on the route between Lithuania and Germany, which is considered one of the most important areas for future growth.  

The new wagons are specially designed for intermodal transport – standard semi-trailers, typically hauled by lorries, can be loaded onto them quickly and easily. Businesses exporting their products to the West are opting for intermodal transport not only for sustainability reasons, but also because it allows them to transport more cargo more efficiently. 

According to L. Nekrošius, the company’s aim for the next few years is to transfer the business model that has proved successful in Poland to Germany and to become one of the strongest carriers on strategically important routes in Central Europe. “We have a clear goal – to earn the trust of our customers in Germany, just as we have managed to do in Poland.  

We want to be among the leading carriers on the most important international routes,” he says.