Championing intermodal options
102 new wagons for Mercitalia Logistics. Road haulage doesn’t always have to come out on top. Mercitalia Logistics, a subsidiary of FS Italiane, confirmed its collaboration with the supplier Ermewa recently by signing a long-term lease agreement for rolling stock, thus paving the way for it to further raise its profile.
Mercitalia Logistics’ latest order broke through the symbolic barrier of 100 wagons. Mercitalia Rail, a division of Mercitalia Logistics, has leased new rolling stock from Ermewa. Since July the leading French freight wagon rental firm and the number two in Europe has delivered no less than 102 brand-new intermodal wagons to Mercitalia Logistics which, in turn, is a part of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group (FS Italiane), Italy’s state-owned railway enterprise.
The four-axle intermodal wagons were built by Tatravagonka in Poprad (Slovakia) and are suitable for ISO 20, 30 and 40 ft containers as well as swap bodies. All of these newly-rented cars have now arrived in Turin and are operational with Mercitalia Logistics. The 67 wagons of the first batch have already been deployed for freight transport in and around Florence.
More wheels on the tracks in Italy
Sabrina De Filippis was the manager in charge of executing this order. She was appointed CEO of Mercitalia Logistics and a member of its board of directors at the corporation’s annual general meeting in May this year, replacing Gianpiero Strisciuglio in the position.
Mercitalia Rail, a 100% subsidiary of FS Italiane, as mentioned above, has resources that make it the most important Italian railfreight operator, namely more than 340 electric locomotives and 130 diesel engines for long-distance transport. It puts no less than 100,000 national and international trains on the rails.
De Filippis, a regional business director with Trenitalia until May, said that this rolling stock “will enable us to meet top European standards, and also to offer more transport solutions that go easier on the environment.”