Photo: DPD Press Materials

DPD says its shift to rail freight is saving 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per day

Parcel delivery company DPD has said its switch to more rail freight in Germany has cut its emissions by the same amount of CO2 that would require 50,000 trees per day to absorb.

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The emission savings are thanks to the rail freight services provided by DPD partner Kombiverkehr.

The first route, which has been in operation for almost two months, runs between Hamburg and Duisburg. Freight trains depart from both locations almost simultaneously every evening.

Each train is loaded with two swap bodies full of DPD parcels. Once they arrive in their destination city, the trains are unloaded by crane and the parcels are taken to nearby depots.

Although the project has only been running for a short time, DPD has already hailed it as a success in logistical and environmental terms.

“The CO2 reduction is already 2.5 tonnes per day, the equivalent of 50,000 trees that would otherwise be needed to absorb the emissions. In this way, we are making an important contribution to climate protection. Our goal remains to convert 5% of our long-distance transport to rail by the end of 2023. In addition to transport within Germany, we also aim to examine international routes,” explains Anke Förster, Chief Financial Officer at DPD Germany.

DPD states that further routes and swap bodies are to follow in order to move even more parcels by rail in the long term.  The company adds that it also operates on the Duisburg – Leipzig route with four swap bodies per day.