Shipowner Color Line is setting up a freight train service in co-operation with logistics company Kombiverkehr that will use a ro-ro ferry between Norway and Germany.

The service, whose oceangoing service links will kick off this week and offer transport from Oslo to Germany and beyond. A departure last Friday from Oslo arrived was scheduled to arrive in Verona, Italy, on Tuesday morning.

The transit time to Norway will, depending on destinations, take from 45 to 67 hours. A dedicated route, called Color Train, will have capacity for up to 30 carriages.

Color Line employs its 12,200-gt ferry Color Carrier (built 1998) on the service. This ship was purchased for $17.5m last year, when it was the Finncarrier. Color Line has been working on this project since it took over operations of this vessel in January, but it has taken longer than expected to get the freight train service ready.

CEO of Color Line Trond Kleivdal told the Norwegian daily Finansavisen that he is convinced that the combination of train and vessel has come to stay and has a potential for considerable growth.

“Both environmental and time aspects are in favour of this solution, in addition to costs”, he told the paper.

The combination of ferry and train will reduce CO2 emissons by 50%, according to Color Line

Frankfurt-based Kombiverkehr has been in business for 50 years and operates a fleet of freight trains that serves 30 countries and has 170 weekly train departures in Europe.

Meanwhile, Color Line is delivering a weaker result this year than in 2018. The Olav Nils Sunde-owned company posted a pre-tax loss of NOK 108m ($12m) in the first six months, compared to a NOK 525m profit in the same period last year. The company had a book equity of NOK 1.66bn at the end of June

The company has a fleet of seven ferries that operate between ports in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. In August it took delivery of the 2,000-passenger ferry Color Hybrid from compatriot shipyard Ulstein.

The higher oil price and weaker Norwegian currency are contributed to the weaker results, the board said.