The German government, with the help of the railway company DB Cargo, plans to organize the transportation of grain from Ukraine.

Railway grain bridge

This is reported by the railway magazine Railway Supply with reference to Handelsblatt..

As noted by the publication, DB Cargo plans to help agricultural production in Ukraine during the war and replace the lack of maritime transport (ports are blocked by Russia). A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn confirmed that “there are plans for this.”

“As a railroad employee, I have to ensure the shipment of 20 million tons of grain to prevent world famine,” said Michael Theurer, parliamentary secretary of state at the Federal Ministry of Transport, in an interview with Handelsblatt.

The official confirmed that negotiations are ongoing with Ukrzaliznytsia and other European railways, in particular in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania. “Now we are studying how the grain bridge can be implemented,” the politician said.

The industry is talking about a figure of up to 20 000 trains. Each of them can carry up to 52 containers or several thousand tons of cargo.

The plan is also part of negotiations with the European Commission and the United Nations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has already warned of the threat of famine due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The so-called grain bridge has two aspects. On the one hand, deliveries are being redirected from maritime transport to rail. On the other hand, Ukraine has started the sowing campaign and needs agricultural machinery (from spare parts to new tractors), grain harvesters, etc. Manufacturers are trying to deliver under the current conditions, but are struggling due to limited capacity.

DB Cargo also offered to deliver grain by rail to ports, for example, on the Adriatic or on the North Sea coast. There, grain could be reloaded and transported by ships to regions that need it more. First of all, we are talking about Ethiopia, Lebanon and Indonesia, which depend on grain supplies from Ukraine.

The German federal government has now approved 430 million euros in response to the global hunger crisis. How the money will be distributed will be clear one of these days.

Recall that DB Cargo launched a “railway bridge” with humanitarian cargo to Ukraine.

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