The Port of Antwerp-Bruges has announced an expansion of its freight network with the introduction of three new rail connections.
The new rail links provide Antwerp with new freight connections to Widnau and Frenkendorf, Zeebrugge with new connections to Mannheim and Chengdu with new connections to Antwerp.
Each of the new lines have been available since August 2025, with companies in the Swiss Rhine Valley, such as rail operator Schweizerzug, having launched the Widnau Express, an accelerated freight service for containers to Widnau and Frenkendorf.
The service runs three times a week between the Antwerp Gateway and Frenkendorf, and twice per week between Frenkendorf and Widnau. Once at Frenkendorf, the service provides connections to Schweizerzug routes to Antwerp (Belgium), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), and Genoa (Italy).
Elsewhere, COSCO Shipping Lines has begun operating a direct train service between the CSP Zeebrugge Terminal and Contargo Mannheim in Germany at a frequency of two to three times per week in both directions.
Transit time is around 13 hours with a capacity of 80 TEU (forty 40-foot containers). Once at Mannheim; trucks distribute cargo to industrial centres across Southwest Germany, including Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, and Mainz.
A new service has also been launched between Antwerp-Chengdu, the Dedicated DPD of La Poste of France China-Europe Africa Train Service Chengdu-Antwerp, a collaboration between Chengdu International Rail Service Company (CDIRS), and DPD of La Poste France.
The first journey of the new service was launched on 27 August, with the first freight train from the Qingbaijiang Railway Terminal in Chengdu arriving at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
All operators aim to offer a weekly service in future.
