IN Brief:
- DB Cargo's study found rail transport of liquefied captured CO₂ to Wilhelmshaven technically and operationally feasible.
- Around 11 trains per day in each direction could operate by 2030, increasing to as many as 17 by 2033.
- Specialised tank wagons would feed HES International's planned CO₂nnectNow export terminal before onward shipment to offshore storage.
DB Cargo has completed a feasibility study showing that captured industrial carbon dioxide can be moved by rail to Wilhelmshaven at the scale required for a developing export and offshore storage chain.
DB Cargo carried out the study with DB InfraGO, HES International, and Harbour Energy between mid-2025 and early 2026. It examined the German rail network alongside emitter-specific logistics concepts for 11 industrial companies, covering main lines, junctions, individual site conditions, and potential bottlenecks rather than limiting the assessment to theoretical wagon capacity.
Its headline finding is that rail-based CO₂ logistics to Wilhelmshaven are technically and operationally feasible. By 2030, the model indicates that around 11 trains per day could run in each direction between industrial emitters and the terminal, increasing to as many as 17 in each direction by 2033 as captured volumes rise.
The cargo would be transported as cryogenically liquefied CO₂ in specially insulated tank wagons. DB Cargo also expects the flows to require hazardous-goods procedures, continuous transport monitoring, and emergency arrangements suited to a commodity that will need tightly controlled handling from the capture site through to the export terminal.
Dual-mode locomotives are expected to support time-sensitive movements over electrified and non-electrified sections of the network, while hydrotreated vegetable oil could be used on suitable routes where electric traction is unavailable. That gives the rail leg some flexibility without requiring every industrial origin to have the same infrastructure.
At Wilhelmshaven, HES International is developing its existing terminal into the CO₂nnectNow export hub. Rail-delivered CO₂ would be stored temporarily before being transferred to ships for onward movement to offshore geological storage sites, including storage capacity being developed by Harbour Energy.
The arrangement turns captured carbon into a recurring bulk logistics flow. Carbon capture projects are often discussed in terms of capture equipment and underground storage, but the two assets have limited value unless there is a dependable transport chain between them. Cement, lime, waste-to-energy, and other hard-to-abate industrial sites are geographically dispersed, and not every emitter is likely to sit on a practical pipeline route.
Rail offers a way to connect those sites to coastal infrastructure using an existing national network, particularly during the early stages of a carbon-management market when captured volumes may be too fragmented to support dedicated pipelines everywhere. The study’s emphasis on individual sites and junctions is therefore important because commercial feasibility depends on access to the network, train paths, siding capability, and terminal capacity rather than the simple fact that tank wagons can carry CO₂.
Eleven loaded trains travelling towards Wilhelmshaven each day would also require a corresponding return flow of empty equipment. That brings locomotive availability, wagon cycles, maintenance, crew planning, terminal slots, and storage capacity into the operating model. By 2033, a possible 17 trains in each direction would create a substantial new freight stream competing for paths with existing automotive, chemicals, intermodal, construction, and bulk traffic.
The terminal has its own balancing requirement. If shipping departures are delayed or offshore storage capacity is temporarily unavailable, rail arrivals still need somewhere to discharge. Insufficient intermediate storage could force trains to wait or ultimately constrain capture operations at the industrial site, transferring a maritime or terminal delay back through the chain.
HES benefits from an established Wilhelmshaven operation with rail access and marine infrastructure, reducing the amount of greenfield logistics development required. The company expects ships to be able to berth for CO₂ movements from 2030 under the current concept, aligning the export facility with the timeframe identified in the rail study.
DB Cargo already handles sensitive liquid and bulk products, but CO₂ would add a new commodity with its own equipment and operating requirements. Scaling from demonstration flows to double-digit daily train movements will depend on specialist wagon availability, consistent loading standards, compatible terminal interfaces, and enough certainty for emitters to commit volumes years ahead.
The study does not amount to a final investment decision for those daily train movements. It establishes technical and operational feasibility and provides a capacity case around which customers, infrastructure managers, terminal operators, and storage developers can continue commercial planning.
If the projected 2030 flows materialise, captured carbon will become a scheduled industrial freight stream with the same unforgiving requirements for equipment utilisation, pathing, storage, and handover discipline as other hazardous bulk cargo. The capture plant may sit at the factory and the storage site beneath the seabed, but the transport chain between them still has to work every day.
