Lineas


Lineas is a European railfreight & logistics company formed from the freight division of the former Belgian national railway company, SNCB/NMBS. Established as part of a larger restructuring of the SNCB to allow open competition and prevent cross-subsidies, it began operations in February 2011.
In 2011 its CEO, Geert Pauwels, declared that the organisation was "going through a profound restructuring", in order to become a profitable, high-performing international logistics groups that is dynamic and customer-oriented.
It changed its name in 2017 to Lineas to mark its European ambition and move away from the state-owned legacy it formerly held. The company has proclaimed its key ambition to realise modal shift in Europe, moving freight off the road onto rail, as to address key societal issues caused by traditional trucking such as mobility issues, climate impact due to high carbon emissions, health hazards due to air pollution, and unnecessary road casualties.
Today, Lineas is owned by private equity company Argos Wityu and NMBS/SNCB. It has more than 200 locomotives and 7000 wagons. The company markets its solutions under its own name as well as under Lineas Intermodal for its intermodal portfolio. The brand's flagship product is the Green Xpress Network which provides fast and sustainable connections between European economic hubs. Since its creation in 2010, Lineas never made a profit or paid a dividend.