Since 2008 Hector Rail transports timber by rail from Norway to Sweden for Stora Enso. Initially, the volume was approximately 550,000 cubic meters/year. Since then, Stora Enso has expanded Hector Rail’s contract on several occasions. Stora Enso and Hector Rail have now agreed to take another big step in the joint development. An additional wagon set and two locomotives enter service. In early May, production will be fully operational at an annual rate of about 1.5 million cubic meters.
The assignment is to run logs from several terminals in Norway to the paper mills Skoghall outside Karlstad and Gruvön in Grums. The terminals in Norway are in Gudbrandsdalen and Østerdalen up to Otta and Tynset. To handle the increasing traffic flows from these forests to the Swedish mills they have chosen to develop the cooperation with Hector Rail.
Hector Rail will substantially enhance the resources in this area by an additional electric locomotive, a diesel locomotive and a wagon set. Several additional drivers will also be recruited. The increase in traffic will begin as soon as possible and will be fully developed in early May.
With the increased volumes for Stora Enso, Hector Rail will in total run about 3.5 million cubic meters of timber annually. This means that Hector Rail is the leading carrier of timber to the Scandinavian forest industry.
