AP Rail facilitates the last mile operations

Antwerp, July 2009 – AP Rail, independent port operator active in the port of Antwerp, expands its
services to conventional transport and offers these to all rail operators and quay handlers that operate
in the port. AP Rail is a common initiative of BCargo Group and the Antwerp Port Authority that aims at
improving the servicing of the quays, on both banks of the Scheldt in the port of Antwerp.
AP Rail was launched last year by BCargo and the Antwerp Port Authority and in a first phase mainly
targeted the single wagon load transport.
Due to the increasing number of rail operators in the port of Antwerp, wagons that were delivered at
the rail bundles or at the quays in Anwerp stayed immobile for too long until now. The necessary last
mile operations to bring the wagons to their final destination were often not well organised and it was
not clear who would assure these operations. This resulted in frequent blockages of the quays, which
lead to a decrease of the accessibility of the quays and endangered the planning of the operations. As
of now, AP Rail will function as single point of contact for the Antwerp Port Autority and other
operators and will assure these operations as independent subcontractor. The first contracts with
international rail operators active in the Belgian market have been closed.
Seen the important demand of last mile operations and despite the economical crisis, AP Rail and the
Anwerp Port Authority have decreased the tariffs of the different operations significantly in order to
make this service as accessible as possible for all. An overview of the tariffs is mentioned on the
website www.ap-rail.be.
Inge Bels of ABES nv: “With AP Rail we can have the wagons of all port operators smoothly removed,
in order to have an optimal use of our shifts and our rail connections. ”
Geert Pauwels, CEO of IFB and coordinator of BCargo Group: “AP Rail offers a concrete solution to
optimise the servicing on the quays in the port of Antwerp. As of today, we offer the services of AP
Rail to all players in the port of Antwerp, without any restrictions, and this at very reasonable prices.
An important number of port related companies will benefit of a higher mobility within the port. Thanks
to its link with BCargo Group, AP Rail has the necessary knowledge, people and materials to execute
these last mile operations in a professional and safe way. ”
AP Rail:
AP Rail is a joint initiative of BCargo Group and Antwerp Port Authority.
Smalle Weg 100 - 2030 Antwerp - www.ap-rail.be
ABES nv:
Zwarte Weg Kaai 34 - 2030 Antwerp – Tel. + 32 3 545 92 40 - www.abesnv.be
Antwerp Port Authority:
Havenhuis, Entrepotkaai 1, 2000 Antwerp - Tel. +32 3 205.23.09 – www.portofantwerp.com

BCargo Group:
BCargo Group is the integrated Group of all companies that are active in the freight division of SNCB. The Group was created in
2008 with the goal of bundling the strengths and the complementary activities in one vigorous structure. Within this structure
everybody works to accomplish the same mission of offering customer oriented services and complete logistic solutions to the
clients, with an improved quality, productivity and cost-efficiency. The three commercial brands of the Group are IFB for
container transport, Rail Force as specialist in the chemical and automotive sectors, paper & pulp, wood, tiles, consumer goods
and in forwarding activities and Xpedys for logistic solutions for bulk and steel products. BCargo assures the rail production for
the Group. BCargo Group realised a turnover of 800 million euro in 2008 and is present in 8 European countries.
For all complementary information:
BCargo Group – Tweestationsstraat 80 – 1070 Brussels – V. Van Mierlo –Tel. +32 2 525 87 18 of +32 472 92 02 29 –
veerle.vanmierlo@nmbs.be - www.bcargogroup.be