Founded in 2001 as challenger in the rail freight market, BLS Cargo has brought European partners on board and developed into an important corridor operator in rail freight traffic. We’re rooted in the heart of Europe and focus our business on the major rail freight axes in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. And all this with the perfect size as a flexible challenger in the rail freight market.
Founded in 2001 in Bern (Switzerland), we grew strongly in the following years with the liberalisation of rail freight transportation in Europe. Today, we run around 22,000 trains a year and connect the important industries and terminals in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
With our 400 employees, 150 locomotives and our focused presence in Western Europe, we’re the perfect size. We’re one of the important challengers in the European rail freight market and advocate for a functioning market; we’re committed to shifting freight traffic from road to rail.
Together with our shareholders BLS, Captrain Holding and Ambrogio Trasporti, we are pursuing a clear vision: “With our passion in rail freight we're the customer’s first choice for sustainable, safe and performant rail freight services”.
21,600
trains operated
270 million CHF
turnover
150
own locomotives
3
subsidiaries
BLS Cargo comprises a total of three subsidiaries: BLS Cargo Italia (2006), BLS Cargo Deutschland (2007) and Crossrail Benelux (2019).
414
full-time positions
Of these, 37% work in Belgium, 28% in Switzerland, 23% in Germany and 12% in Italy.
51%
market share
Challengers in the European rail freight market hold a market share of 48%. We’re an important part of it.
CEO BLS Cargo, President of BA BLS Cargo Italia, Crossrail Benelux, Deputy CEO BLS
President of BA BLS Cargo, CEO BLS
Vice-President of BA BLS Cargo, Chairman Rail Logistics Europe
Member of BA BLS Cargo, Group Marketing Executive Ambrogio Trasporti
Member of BA BLS Cargo, CEO Captrain Holding
Member of BA BLS Cargo, Managing Partner ECM Ventures
Safety and security
Reliability and safety in railway operations are of central importance to us. We strive for the highest level of safety and work on our positive safety culture every day. Trust, confidentiality, transparency and fairness are at the centre of our Just Culture. We recognise that people can make mistakes. Our aim is to recognise and correct systemic problem areas that have contributed to an unsafe situation. The aim is to prevent future recurrences and improve the system.
Integrated management system
We operate an integrated management system consisting of quality, safety and maintenance management and are regularly audited and certified (ISO 9001:2015 (BLS Cargo); SQAS (Crossrail Benelux), ECM, SMETA). We are also certified as an "Authorised Economic Operator" (AEO).
Responsibility
BLS Cargo's rail freight transport services in Europe reduce the burden on the environment, conserve resources and, in contrast to road freight transport, cause comparatively low CO2 emissions. The BLS Sustainability Report 2023 provides a detailed insight (German only).
Compliance
BLS Cargo complies with the applicable regulations and laws and behaves in an ethically correct manner. The compliance management system is based on the pillars of prevention, detection and reaction. The Code of Conduct is based on the aspect of prevention. It contains instructions and serves as a guideline for all employees of BLS Cargo and its subsidiaries on how to behave correctly towards colleagues, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders, even in difficult situations.
BLS Cargo has an externally supervised whistleblowing reporting centre. This reporting centre is available to all employees, suppliers, partners and customers of BLS Cargo Switzerland and BLS Cargo Italia. Every report is followed up.
BLS Cargo Deutschland was founded in 2007 with headquarters in Weil am Rhein (D) and provides services on BLS Cargo trains in the Basel area.
BLS Cargo Italia was founded in 2006 with headquarters in Domodossola II (I). Since 2018, BLS Cargo Italia has held a railway licence and provides services in Domodossola as well as driver services between Domodossola and Spiez (CH) for BLS Cargo trains.
