UPM’s First Pulp Transport by Rail Ran Successfully in Uruguay

April 8, 2024 – UPM announced that its first pulp transport by rail ran successfully in Uruguay last week when a train consisting of a locomotive and 14 wagons travelled from the Paso de los Toros pulp mill to UPM’s port terminal in Montevideo. This was also the maiden voyage of the Ferrocarril Central, Central Railway project of the Uruguayan Ministry of Transport and Public Works.

The reconstruction of the Central Railway line from Uruguay inland to the capital Montevideo is one of the most important infrastructure projects in Uruguay's history, carried out as a public-private partnership.

Construction work on the project, which covers a total of 273 km of track, started in 2019 and ended in 2023. After installations, testing and certification, the project progressed to commissioning, and now UPM’s pulp transports are starting to gradually move from trucks to rail.

With its cargo accounting for about half of the total freight to be transported via the rail, UPM is one of the main users of the line but the line offers new business opportunities for all Uruguayan inland industries and the possibility to develop passenger transport.

The trains are operated by DBCC Transport which is a consortium of three companies, Deutsche Bahn of Germany, Cointer Concesiones of Spain and Christophersen of Uruguay.

Paso de los Toros Pulp Mill

UPM’s Paso de los Toros pulp mill began operations in Paso de los Toros, Uruguay in 2023. The mill has the capacity to produce 2.1 million tonnes per year of eucalyptus pulp.

SOURCE: UPM