At the Port of Rotterdam, six railway companies – Rail Force One, HSL Netherlands, DB Cargo Nederland, RTB Cargo, LTE, and Rail Cargo Group – have signed an agreement establishing a new level of operational cooperation on the port’s railway network. This initiative is being implemented under the leadership of the Port of Rotterdam Authority and aims to enhance process efficiency while reducing the number of canceled train runs caused by infrastructure congestion.
Under the terms of this so-called “switch agreement,” operators gain the ability – subject to fixed conditions – to take over one another’s scheduled runs in the event of capacity bottlenecks. This will help minimize train cancellations and delays, as well as enable faster responses to schedule deviations, thereby boosting the stability of rail services within the port.
The project, dubbed “Track Together,” launched on April 1, 2026, as a seven-month pilot program and utilizes a specially developed application called PortFlow for booking train slots. In the event of disruptions, the system also facilitates the rapid reallocation of trains, the clearing of terminal tracks, and the maintenance of the overall schedule. Project participants note that this represents the first instance of such a structured collaborative framework among multiple railway operators at the Port of Rotterdam – one designed to enhance the safety, efficiency, and reliability of port logistics.