From now on, Stella Artois beers on the way to the port of Antwerp are delivered to their export gate by train. The Belgian beer manufacterer AB InBev has announced a major shift to rail for its breweries. A new train connection and the ‘beer train’ were officially launched on Monday, in the presence of Minister-President of Flanders Jan Jambon.
The train connection links the warehouse of Katoen Natie, where the trains are filled with Stella Artois, with Kaai 1742 MPET, the quay where the bottles find their way to the rest of the world. With this connection the ring road of Antwerp is relieved of some 20.000 trucks a year. The beer train is collective effort of AB InBev, Katoen Natie, train operator Lineas and DP World, which operates the terminal.
Modal shift
The beer producer already made several train journeys in 2019. 15,000 containers were shipped via an existing train connection last year. With the new connection, this number of units will amount to 20,000 containers. This results in 20,000 trucks taken off the congested ring road. And this means less pressure on the road network, 440,000 fewer kilometers traveled on the road and 75 per cent of CO2 saved, the parties argue.