GCS/Ruscon has launched a block train service from the Ust-Luga Container Terminal to Nizhniy Novgorod to serve the needs of General Motors Korea, which signed a contract in February 2011 with the Russian motor manufacturer GAZ to assemble its Chevrolet Aveo subcompact city car.
Ust-Luga is about 50 miles west of St Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland. Nizhniy Novgorod is Russia’s fifth largest city and is 250 miles east of Moscow.
GCS is also offering capacity on the trains to third parties including carriers and shippers who route cargo via Ust-Luga.
Ruscon loaded two pilot trains at Ust-Luga in the beginning of December, transporting CKD parts that were shipped by GM Korea. In total 118 containers were delivered to the new assembly plant in Nizhniy Novgorod.
The regular service starts this month (January) and volumes will build to around 800x40ft containers per month.
