BLS Cargo

BLS Cargo AG

Basic information
Web presence	http://www.blscargo.ch
Reference year	2017
owner	52% BLS AG 45% SNCF Logistics 3% Ambrogio
legal form	Corporation
Seat	Bern
Managing directors	Dirk Stahl ( Managing Director ) Bernard Guillelmon ( Chairman of the Board )
sales	202.3 million CHFdep1
number of vehicles
Locomotives	13 Re 4/4 15 Re 475 20 Re 485 10 Re 486

The BLS Cargo AG (BLPR), headquartered in Bern is a subsidiary of BLS AG . The company is active in the transalpine rail freight transport, with a focus on Switzerland , on the Lötschberg-Simplon and Gotthard transit axes . It also transports trains outside of Switzerland, including to and from Germany , the Netherlands and Italy .

Companies

A BLS Cargo type Re 4/4 locomotive with an empty car train in Brig (CH).

BLS Cargo AG focuses on block trains in combined and single wagon traffic in Switzerland. On behalf of “ RAlpin AG ”, it also runs trains on the “ Rolling Autobahn ”. In 2017, the company transported almost 20,000 trains, generating sales of 202.3 million Swiss francs .

BLS Cargo has the largest market share on the Lötschberg-Simplon axis with 45%. The company has a 27 percent market share in Alpine transit . In last place, with an 8 percent market share, are transports via the Gotthard Railway . In terms of all rail freight transport in Switzerland, the company has a market share of around 26%. Within Switzerland, the main competition for freight transport is SBB Cargo .

Thanks to the use of multi-system locomotives and the wholly owned subsidiaries BLS Cargo Deutschland and BLS Cargo Italia, the company also provides services in other countries, including to and from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Italy.

BLS Cargo has service points in Bern Ausserholligen , Chiasso , Domodossola (Italy) and Weil am Rhein (Germany). Thanks to this, technical checks of the wagons can be carried out at the service points, brake tests can be made and train data can be recorded. In addition, the shunting operations will be taken over by BLS Cargo. External staff are deployed at other stations .

The company's train drivers are stationed at the Spiez , Brig , Bellinzona Domodossola and Weil am Rhein depot locations .

BLS Cargo AG shareholders are BLS AG (52%), SNCF Logistics (45%), and Ambrogio Trasporti (3%).

history

"BLS Cargo AG" (BLSC) was founded on April 3, 2001 by BLS Lötschbergbahn AG . As a result of the liberalization of rail freight transport in Switzerland, on July 1, 2001, it took over the freight transport business of BLS. With a market share of 5%, the company was looking for strategic partners abroad. In June 2002 the share capital was increased and 20% sold to DB Cargo ; The Italian freight forwarding company "Ambrogio Trasporti", which had its own terminals in northern Italy, took over 2.3% of the share capital.

Together with the Railion network, a concept for cross-border traffic between Germany, Switzerland and Italy was developed; In July 2002, ten “Traxx F140 AC” with national equipment for Switzerland and Germany were ordered from Bombardier Transportation . With the delivery as the Re 485 series between December 2002 and mid-2003, the remaining Ae 4/4 were scrapped. In May 2003, freight traffic with free network access was resumed with a daily pair of trains on the Gotthard axis and expanded to around 80 trains per week by the end of the year. On September 1, 2003, cooperation partner DB Cargo changed its name to “ Railion Deutschland ”. In 2004 the cooperation with the DB subsidiary Stinnes Freight Logistics was expanded. In May 2004 another ten "Traxx F140 AC" were ordered and until they were delivered, locomotives of the same construction were rented from Angel Trains Cargo for six months . The market share in Switzerland rose to over 15% in the first half of 2004.

In order to be able to operate better in Italy, too, BLS Cargo Italia Srl was founded in 2006. At the same time, BLS Cargo AG received network access in Germany. Since the transports carried out by BLS Cargo in Germany were steadily increasing, BLS Cargo Deutschland GmbH was founded a year later after the German network access. In 2008, several Re 486 multi-system locomotives were delivered . From then on, BLS Cargo could travel through Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland without changing locomotives. The railway company did not travel to Italy with the locomotives until 2009. In 2008, the share of the then DB Schenker Rail increased from 20% to 45%. The share portion of IMT AG increased by 0.7% to a total of 3%. In 2014, BLS bought back the shares in BLS Cargo from DB Schenker Rail.

The first commercial trip with the 187 series was carried out by BLS Cargo in 2014. In 2015, BLS Cargo ordered 15 Vectron locomotives . The first Vectron locomotive was handed over to the railway company in 2016. In the following year, SNCF Logistics also took a 45% stake in BLS Cargo AG.

Although the company achieved the highest turnover ever in the 2017 financial year, BLS Cargo incurred a loss of around two million francs from August 12, 2017 to October 2, 2017 due to the closure of the Rheinbahn near Rastatt .

On the evening of April 2, 2020, a serious train accident occurred on the Rhine Valley route near the village of Auggen near Freiburg im Breisgau when a train on the Rolling Road crashed into a concrete part of a bridge. The driver was fatally injured. The BLS Cargo Re 485 004-6 locomotive was involved, which suffered a total loss in this collision.

Locomotives

Several locomotive types are used at BLS Cargo so that national and international transports can be carried out without any problems. Almost all the locomotives used are equipped with the European Train Control System ( ETCS for short ).

A BLS Cargo class 185 locomotive in Domodossola (I).

BLS Cargo owns the following locomotives :

designation	numbering	number of pieces	Commissioning	Admission
Re 4/4	170-182	13	1964-1983	CH
Re 485	001-020	20th	2002-2003	CH, D
Re 486	501-510	10	2008-2009	CH, D, I, A
Re 475	401-415	15th	2016-2018	CH, D, A, I, NL
Re 475	416-440	25th	from 2020	CH, D, A, I, NL

If necessary, BLSC has access to additional locomotives via the shared vehicle pool with BLS AG :


designation	numbering	number of pieces	Commissioning	Admission
Re 4/4	183-195	13	1964-1983	CH (without ETCS)
Re 465	001-018	18th	1994-1997	CH

A BLS Cargo locomotive of the 186 series passes through Mattstetten (CH).

Other locomotives are rented from the leasing company Railpool :


designation	number of pieces	Admission
BR 186	9	CH, D, A, I, NL
BR 187	3	CH, D, A

Individual evidence

↑ About the company. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .
↑ BLS characteristics. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .
↑ Key figures of BLS Cargo. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 1, 2019 .
↑ Offer overview. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 1, 2019 .
↑ BLS locations. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .
↑ BLS demands two million francs from Deutsche Bahn. In: The Bund. Retrieved March 1, 2019 .
↑ BLS Cargo AG founded . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 5/2001, ISSN 1421-2811 , p. 212 f.
↑ Brief profile. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .
↑ Train races in part of the bridge - platoon leader dies. In: The world . April 3, 2020, accessed April 3, 2020 .

[1] About the company. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .

[2] BLS characteristics. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .

[3] Key figures of BLS Cargo. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 1, 2019 .

[4] Offer overview. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 1, 2019 .

[5] BLS locations. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .

[6] BLS demands two million francs from Deutsche Bahn. In: The Bund. Retrieved March 1, 2019 .

[eri-2001-212-7] BLS Cargo AG founded . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 5/2001, ISSN 1421-2811 , p. 212 f.

[8] Brief profile. In: BLS Cargo. Retrieved January 2, 2019 .

[9] Train races in part of the bridge - platoon leader dies. In: The world . April 3, 2020, accessed April 3, 2020 .