BELGIUM–ROMANIA: DP World has completed the first finished-vehicle rail shipment from Zeebrugge to Aiud, with the company planning a twice-monthly regular service on the corridor during the second half of 2026.

Belgian electric locomotive hauling car transport wagons toward the Port of Zeebrugge.
Belgian electric locomotive 2835 hauling car transport wagons toward the Port of Zeebrugge. Illustrative photo. Photo: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0.

The first movement was ultimately bound for Chisinau, Moldova. Vehicles travelled by rail from Zeebrugge to Aiud before continuing by road for the final leg. DP World said this was its first finished-vehicle rail operation in Europe managed end-to-end by the company.

Pilot precedes a twice-monthly service

Following the pilot, DP World intends to operate the Zeebrugge–Aiud service twice a month during the second half of 2026. The announcement does not give an exact start date, identify the rail operator, name intermediate routing points or state the transit time.

DP World’s 2025 European network brochure said its Zeebrugge Finished Vehicle Hub had daily rail links to Romania, alongside links to Italy, Spain and Hungary. That provides existing rail-connectivity context for the origin terminal, but it does not establish the operating pattern of the new Aiud vehicle service.

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Rail covers the long-distance leg

The corridor combines long-distance rail transport with road delivery at destination. For the first shipment, Aiud acted as the transfer point before the vehicles continued to Chisinau by road.

DP World estimates that the rail-road model can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 55% compared with equivalent long-haul road transport. The figure is a company estimate rather than an independently verified result for every movement.

Aiud’s multimodal terminal opened in 2024 following a €21 million investment. The 180,000-square-metre facility is next to Romania’s A10 motorway and directly connected to the national railway network. DP World plans to develop Aiud as a regional finished-vehicle distribution point for Romania and neighbouring markets, while a further rail connection with Koper in Slovenia is also planned.

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