The arrival of the first train from the city of Teno in the Maule Region, with 27 cars loaded with export containers bringing refrigerated and dry goods this morning marked the start of the regular containerized cargo transport service by rail in the port of Valparaíso , which will have three weekly trips destined mainly to supply the ships of the Maersk CLX service, which will call TPS weekly to Europe.

It is a joint effort of the entire logistics chain: Puerto Valparaíso, TPS, EFE and FEPASA, of the Valparaíso port system and Maersk's commitment to promote this modality, to increase the movement of cargo by rail to and from the port, in this case with the novelty of fresh cargo in reefer containers, which will be added to the cargo movement carried out in trucks using the La Pólvora route; as well as fractional copper load that is received in TPS by rail.

Andrés Repetto, TPS Operations Manager, commented that “this operation has been prepared for a long time together with EPV, EFE, Maersk and FEPASA, and in our role as a port terminal we have put all our knowledge and experience to make it an efficient operation and safe. Chilean foreign trade needs flexibility and adaptability to new forms and opportunities; that is why we are very happy that Maersk has trusted us and that the other members of the Valparaíso logistics chain have responded in such a coordinated way ”.

For his part, Juan Marcos Mancilla, Logistics Manager of Empresa Portuaria Valparaíso, highlighted that “this is the joint effort of all the actors in the logistics chain, in addition to FEPASA and Maersk, to promote and enhance the train service in our city . We are committed to developing sustainable logistics that is complemented by truck transport and that allows increasing the transfer of cargo through our terminals. The new Maersk service allows us to frequently implement the use of the railway mode, generating continuity in the use of the train, for these purposes, in Valparaíso ”.

Meanwhile, Alexandra Carmona, Maersk West Coast Landside Transportation Product Manager, assured that “Maersk's main objective is to continue developing sustainable solutions that reduce the carbon footprint in our customers' supply chain. Currently, Maersk supports these types of projects since they generate efficiencies and competitive advantages for our clients, within this we reduce the carbon footprint by 70% compared to traditional land transport, we also bring our warehouse closer to the clients' plant and, additionally, we give a direct connection from Teno to the Port of Valparaíso. We believe in this project and that is why we bet on EFE, FEPASA and TPS in developing an alternative solution to give continuity to the service through this port ”.

Finally, the general manager of EFE Valparaíso, Jorge Gómez, pointed out that this is an important milestone because it consolidates the work carried out together with the Port Company and other logistics actors to reactivate the rail freight transport in the Port of Valparaíso. “It is especially relevant because it opens up a tremendous opportunity to add new exporters and importers interested in taking advantage of the train's advantages in their logistics processes. We are starting with three weekly trains, but we could progressively expand to 20 with the current installed capacity. Along these lines, infrastructure improvements are also planned to make the process more efficient and expand it ”, he explained.