Germany's railway operator plans Ukraine "grain bridge"

A dockyard worker watches as barley grain is poured into a ship in Nikolaev
A dockyard worker watches as barley grain is mechanically poured into a 40,000 ton ship at a Ukrainian agricultural exporter's shipment terminal in the southern Ukrainian city of Nikolaev July 9, 2013. REUTERS/Vincent Mundy/File Photo

BERLIN, July 20 (Reuters) - Germany's State-owned rail company Deutsche Bahn said it was planning to transport grain by freight train from Ukraine to Germany's ports.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine - two major global wheat suppliers - has sent prices for grains and other food products soaring. It has stalled Kyiv's exports, leaving dozens of ships stranded and some 20 million tonnes of grain stuck in silos at Odesa. read more

Deutsche Bahn said it will transform its network that was set up to transport humanitarian aid to bring grain from Ukraine to the German ports of Rostock, Hamburg and Brake near Bremerhaven.

The railway operator plans to run several trains per week and a large part of the grain would be transported via Romania and Poland, the company said, adding that the company couldn't yet quantify how much grain it could transport.

"We will move as much grain as possible," a spokesperson for the company was quoted as saying by DPA news agency which reported the news first.

Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Sandra Maler

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