According to Federal Minister of Transport Volker Wissing, transports by rail with the help of Deutsche Bahn have started to support grain exports from the Ukraine.
The goods subsidiary DB Cargo is in the process of enabling a “rail bridge” to be able to transport large quantities of agricultural products to ports on the North Sea and the Adriatic, said the FDP politician on Tuesday in Berlin.
The help has begun, DB Cargo is already driving on behalf of private grain exporters from Ukraine.
Railway boss Richard Lutz spoke of two to three trains a day from the Ukraine via Poland and the corresponding terminals to Western Europe.
The background is that the export of grain via the seaports of Ukraine has come to a standstill because of the Russian war against the country.
This threatens deliveries to North Africa and Asia in particular, and problems with the food supply are feared.
As EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valean recently explained, 20 million tons of grain urgently need to leave Ukraine.
The Commission had presented an action plan to bring out exports via so-called "solidarity lanes" overland.
Wissing spoke to Valean in Berlin and pledged support for the action plan - including for planned temporary agreements with Ukraine and neighboring Moldova for easier access for freight transporters to the EU market.
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg also attended the meeting at Berlin Central Station.
Bahn boss Lutz said that the support of the Commission is important so that the European railways can make optimal use of scarce local capacities.
If so far 90 percent of the grain has been exported via the seaports, you will reach capacity limits on the rails.
"But despite everything, we have to try to transport as much as possible out of Ukraine."