RAILION moved a step closer to becoming a pan-European rail freight operator on September 1, when the operating arm of German Railway's freight business, DB Cargo, was renamed Railion Deutschland. The move is intended to put the German operations on the same footing as Railion Benelux (formerly NS Cargo) and Railion Danmark (DSB Gods).

The Railion group now has a staff of 27000, and handles 280 million tonnes of freight a year, of which DB says around half now crosses at least one border.

The change reflects part of a wider restructuring at DB's freight business, following the railway's acquisition of logistics firm Stinnes AG last year (RG 7.03 p428). With effect from September 1 DB Cargo disappears, and Stinnes, now headquarted in Berlin, becomes the holding company in charge of DB's freight business. DB Cargo's logistics activities have been merged into Stinnes subsidiary Schenker, which acts as a freight forwarder and retailer. This leaves Railion free to provide wholesale rail transport services for both Schenker and other freight forwarders on a neutral basis. n