AUSTRIAN Federal Railways (ÖBB) subsidiary Rail Cargo Austria (RCA) has optimised its connection for rail freight between Austria and Scandinavia with the launch of the TransFER Linz - Scandinavia - Wels network.

Since the start of 2022 freight trains have operated from Linz via the RCA Hub at Rheinkamp, near Duisburg, Germany, to Malmö, Sweden, from where there is further distribution throughout the region.

The new service now shares the route with the Linz - Duisberg - Wels service. As part of the consolidation of operations, the previous number of round trips between Linz and Rheinkamp to Wels will be increased from five to six, while two trains per week will now operate return trips from Rheinkamp to Malmö. Transport to Vienna will still be possible via TransFER connections.

These services offer a direct end-to-end connection with the Scandinavia region via the Öresund Bridge rather than transfer by ferry.