About Us
Takargo – Transporte de Mercadorias, SA is the first Portuguese private rail freight operator. It is committed to implement a culture of excellence focused on customer satisfaction, valuing employees, complying with safety rules and following good environmental practices.
Mission
Operate and boost rail freight transport in the Iberian Peninsula by offering innovative services, contributing to an improvement in service quality, environmental sustainability, and the promotion of a culture of safety, increasing national competitiveness.
Vision
To be the leader in rail freight in the Iberian market, providing innovative services in an integrated perspective of transport, minimizing environmental impacts, and guaranteeing the reliability, quality, and safety of all operations.
Values
There is a set of values in which we believe and which we rely on when making decisions:
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- Quality of our services;
- Trusted relationships with Customers and Partners;
- Efficiency of our activity;
- Service innovation
- Promotion of a positive safety culture;
- Development of our activities sustainably;
- Team spirit among employees, customers, and partners.
Our 2022 key figures
Employees
Trains performed
Tons transported
Kms travelled in Portugal
Kms in the Iberian Peninsula
Policy
Takargo's Quality, Environment and Safety Policy was established taking into account: the organization's purpose and context, its mission and values and the group's requirements and principles, namely, the Safety Policy established by Rail Logistics Europe for all subsidiary companies.
Takargo, along with the other companies in the group, share the best practices and learning among them for the benefit of everyone's safety. The company adopts a constructive posture of transparency and dialogue with third parties about its policy and results.
It should be noted that Takargo subscribed to the Railway Safety Culture Declaration of the European Union Railway Agency (ERA). Thus, the commitments of this declaration are also inputs in the establishment of its policy and in the development of the rail safety strategy and objectives.
QUALITY, ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY POLICY
TAKARGO is committed to implementing a culture of excellence centered on customer satisfaction, valuing employees, promoting a positive safety culture at the level of its railway operations, and implementing good environmental and occupational safety and health practices.
The principle of continuous improvement and sustainable development are always present in the activities promoted by TAKARGO, thus committing itself:
- Ensure customer satisfaction, looking for solutions to offer services in accordance with agreed requirements to grant their trust and loyalty.
- Create value for Shareholders by meeting their expectations.
- Promote employees’ training ensuring the necessary skills to grant the proper transport of customers' goods.
- Provide adequate investment to ensure the safety conditions of equipment and workplaces and to reduce the probability of safety hazards.
- Control the risks associated with railway operations arising from its own activities and those carried out by third parties, developing measures aimed at meeting the common objectives of railway safety.
- Protect the environment, minimizing the environmental impacts associated with TAKARGO's activities, namely through the efficient use of resources and the prevention of pollution.
- Identify and whenever possible eliminate hazards and reduce risks providing adequate healthy and safe working conditions in order to prevent work accidents and damage to health.
- Promote employees partake providing access to clear information and providing adequate mechanisms for their participation.
- Promote a partnership relationship with suppliers, in order to ensure the continuous improvement of the service provided.
- Comply with all applicable legal, regulatory and other requirements.
- Continuously improve the effectiveness of its Quality, Environment and Safety Management System, namely through internal audits and monitoring of established indicators.
Regarding railway safety, Takargo also follows the principles established by Rail Logistics Europe, inspired by the values of the SNCF:
The safety of our staff, our subcontractors, our customers and the goods they entrust to us is part of Rail Logistics Europe's identity, inspired by SNCF values; it is our absolute priority.
We are committed to promoting the safety culture described in the European Railway Agency's joint declaration. Our ambition and our commitments in terms of safety policy are part of a process of transformation of the safety culture inspired by the SNCF "PRISME" program around 6 axes:
1) Developing a proactive behavior, each agent contributing to the system of continuous improvement of safety by reporting to his manager all the incidents and precursory elements of which he has knowledge. The right to speak up is ours. We anticipate through research and analysis of the root causes of incidents and precursor events. We systematically apply the Fair and Equitable approach in the analysis of events and the treatment of discrepancies. We value good practices.
2) Setting up a risk analysis system to prioritize actions and focus energies. Each entity implements a continuous improvement system based on the analysis of risk situations, indicators, controls, audits and feedback. Any development project or change affecting safety, or any product or service launch, is subject to a prior risk assessment.
3) Controlling the interfaces between the entities that make up today's rail freight system in its local, national and European dimensions. At all levels of the hierarchy, each agent knows his or her area of responsibility and place in the safety organization. We set up the necessary cooperation and work towards the overall efficiency of safety management. Our partners and subcontractors apply the standards and rules enabling them to meet the requirements of the Rail Logistics Europe safety policy.
4) Simplifying as much as necessary the procedures and documentation that we make available to each agent. Each agent must understand the meaning of the security procedures that he or she applies and shares with others. Procedures are adapted to the field to facilitate their implementation. Access to information by operational staff is facilitated by digital tools. These security procedures are updated as part of a continuous improvement process.
5) Creating the managerial conditions so that each agent is personally involved in his or her actions and decisions, and at his or her own level of responsibility, to reduce risk as much as possible, i.e., the frequency and severity of accident situations. In order to carry out their work, we provide each agent with safe processes, an adequate level of training to acquire the appropriate skills and a supportive management structure.
6) Providing ourselves with innovative digital tools and equipment to give each agent a secure work environment and technological means. This concerns the work environment and the analysis tools that enable effective safety management
This policy applies to our rail activities. It deals with the safety of Freight rail operations, the health and safety of our employees and our subcontractors, the protection of the environment, safety and cyber security. It defines the framework for the actions we promote and implement to optimize safety throughout the rail production process.
This policy is available to all interested parties, so that they are aware of TAKARGO's commitments and thus can contribute to their success. Employees are made aware of the importance of knowing and meeting the principles established in this policy.
Certificates
SGQAS NP ISO 9001:2015 Certificate
NP ISO 9001 specifies requirements for a quality management system, allowing organizations to demonstrate their ability to consistently provide services that satisfy both customer requirements and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, as well as increasing the customer satisfaction through effective application of the system.
SGQAS NP ISO 14001:2015 Certificate
NP ISO 14001 specifies requirements for an environmental management system providing organizations with a framework to protect the environment and respond to changing environmental conditions, in balance with socio-economic needs. This standard allows organizations to achieve the intended results of their environmental management system, which provide added value for the environment, for the organization itself and for interested parties.
SGQAS NP ISO 45001:2019 Certificate
NP ISO 45001 specifies requirements for an occupational safety and health (OSH) management system, enabling organizations to provide safe and healthy workplaces, through the prevention of work-related injuries and health conditions, as well as through of proactively improving OSH performance.
ERM Certificate
The certification system for entities responsible for the maintenance of railway vehicles, in accordance with European Directive 2016/798 and Implementing Regulation 2019/779, provides entities with the management of its vehicles maintenance activities and the performance of technical maintenance functions, by their own means or through contracts with third parties. Takargo is certified as an Entity Responsible for the Maintenance (ERM) of its wagons and locomotives.
Training Entity Certificate
In accordance with legal regulations, the certification of entities that carry out the activity of initial, continuous, and specific training of train drivers is mandatory. Takargo is an IMT I.P. certified training entity since May 2021.
Portuguese and Spanish Railway Safety Certificate
The safety management system (SMS), in accordance with Directive 2004/49/EC on railway safety, is based on a structured approach that allows the identification of hazards and the continuous management of risks associated with the activities of the railway undertaking to prevent accidents, ensuring that it achieves its business objectives safely. The proper application of an SMS by railway undertakings is a fundamental element for the success of the entire safety regulatory framework provided in the Railway Safety Directive, as it constitutes the basis used by the National Safety Authorities of the European Union for the issuance of safety certificates.
Licenses
License to Operate Rail Freight Services
The License for operating rail freight services is the authorization for access to the activity of providing rail transport services appropriate to the type of service to be performed and is issued by the National Security Authorities of the European Union. Companies operating on the railway network, in addition to the requirement to have the appropriate licensing, must hold a safety certificate.
Takargo's License issued by the IMT I.P. concerns the operation of rail freight services.
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Our History
Takargo's history begins at the end of 2006, continuing the business diversification strategy of the Mota-Engil Group, becoming the first Portuguese private rail freight transport operator.
