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LTG Cargo, the freight transport company of the Lithuanian Railways (LTG) group, is taking a strategic step to strengthen its logistics services. The company, which is actively expanding its operations, intends to purchase up to 500 new grain carriers through public procurement. 

It is planned that the purchase will be made in phases, thus ensuring that the first wagons reach customers as soon as possible. The first phase will consist of 300 new wagons. Given the growing market demand for efficient and sustainable transport of grain in the country, the renewed fleet of wagons will be used primarily for the growing domestic and Klaipėda Sea Port freight traffic. Grain transport currently accounts for around 13-14% of total freight volumes and is growing steadily every year. 

"Companies in the agricultural production sector are important partners of LTG Cargo. The grain segment is one of the most stable in the country. Therefore, forecasting a consistent growth in the volumes of grain transport by rail, the expanded fleet of wagons will provide more opportunities to offer competitive transport solutions to existing and future customers",– says Eglė Šimė, LTG Cargo CEO. 

LTG Cargo currently has a fleet of around 1,200 wagons for grain transport, which is the number of wagons offered for this year's grain season. It is expected that the expansion of the technical fleet will allow the company to transport up to 1 million tonnes of grain per year. The wagons will be maintained by LTG Cargo's professional freight wagon repair team. 

The first wagons are expected to reach the company in the second half of 2024. The exact timing of the acquisition will be clarified after the successful completion of the public procurement procedures. "LTG Cargo will procure the new wagons on the basis of market consultations and national security considerations, and in order to make the most efficient use of the funds available for the procurement. 

"This investment will help the country's transport sector as a whole to meet the European Union's Green Deal commitments. Last year alone, we transported 3.7 million tonnes of cereals, of which almost 2.3 million tonnes to customers in Lithuania. Transport volumes are likely to increase further in the future as all European countries turn their attention to rail, one of the greenest modes of transporting goods", – Šimė predicts. 

LTG Cargo also announced in the summer of this year that for the first time in its history, it is also buying electric locomotives. The European Union's Green Deal commitments stipulate that by 2030, around 30% of the more than 300 km of freight transported by road will have to be transported by environmentally friendly means, primarily by rail.