While Egyptian President Fattah Abdel el-Sisi today announced the unblocking of the Suez Canal which had been blocked by a cargo ship, another question being asked is, when will German Chancellor Angela Merkel announce the unblocking of the busiest freight rail corridor in Europe, which has been blocked since March 15 with no apparent end in sight? As reported in an earlier briefing, the cause was a landslide in the Middle Rhine Valley in the heart of Germany on the European Rhine-Alpine. While DB Netz has said that regular traffic is expected to resume around Easter, rail freight industry sources forecast more lasting damage.
RailFreight.com quotes Sven Flore, Vice Chairman of Network of European Railways, complaining that trains have been rerouted along lines that add as much as 300 km to the trip, creating conditions impossible for freight operators to schedule shipments.
