Liepāja is a huge former Soviet naval port, and the third largest town in Latvia, which has plenty of dock space and water depth for shipping purposes. Most importantly however is the direct rail link to Russia which runs from Liepāja all the way to Moscow.  This allows containers to be unloaded in Liepāja straight onto trains for further transportation to Moscow. In addition the rail gauge is the same as the Russian track which eliminates the need for switching trains halfway. The whole port has also been a recipient of EU subsidy funds to develop and expand rail services including upgrading the rail connections and network.

This quick and easy link can guarantee that a container leaving Harlingen on Friday will arrive in Moscow by the next Friday, or within five working days. The main advantage of using rail over road is to avoid the long lines of trucks at the Russian border, a wait which can exceed three days. In addition to this, however, millions of liters of fuel is saved when transporting containers by train, which lowers co² emissions and most  importantly makes the service much cheaper for the customer.

Harlingen Seaport certainly sees a future in developing a container service between the two ports. The newly opened railway connection between Liepāja and Moscow was one of the reasons for initiating the cooperation. In the future, Harlingen hopes to develop its activities in British and other European ports as well which eventually will increase traffic through Latvia to Russia.

Promo Harlingen North Connect Lines