The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is expanding its rail network with three new services, strengthening multimodal connections and increasing cargo flows. Since August 2025, the Swiss operator Schweizerzug (Swissterminal Group) has launched the Widnau Express service, which connects the Antwerp Gateway terminal with Frenkendorf three times a week and with Widnau twice a week. From Frenkendorf, cargo is sent along existing routes to Antwerp, Rotterdam and Genoa, providing fast and environmentally friendly access to major European ports.
At the end of August, COSCO Shipping Lines opened a direct train connection between CSP Zeebrugge Terminal and Mannheim in Germany. Trains run two to three times a week in both directions, carry up to 80 TEU and reach their destination in 13 hours. From Mannheim, goods are transported by road to key industrial centres in south-west Germany, including Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Mainz. The new route links the strategic port of Zeebrugge with Germany’s industrial heartland, reducing dependence on road transport.
On 27 August, the first train from Chengdu, China, arrived at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. Some of the cargo was then sent to Barcelona and North Africa. The new service, organised in partnership between Silk Road Leader, CDIRS and DPD (La Poste France), is called the “Dedicated DPD of La Poste of France China-Europe Africa Train Service Chengdu-Antwerp”. It underlines the port’s and its Chinese partners’ commitment to strengthening trade links between Europe, North Africa and China, and will eventually become a regular weekly route.