Arvid Guthed, vice president port development at Gothenburg Port Authority, said that around 70% of the rail freight handled relates to the port, Volvo or other activities near the port, so the new location will prove very advantageous. On a normal weekday, 12 trains and 200 trucks arrive at and depart from the terminal. Apart from domestic trains, there are also departures for various destinations in Europe.

Guthed continued: “The intermodal terminal at the port will have the same capacity as the current terminal. Relocation will also mean that heavy road traffic will be directed away from the city centre to the large roads leading to and  from the port. Generally, a higher proportion of transport will take place by rail instead of road.”

The intermodal terminal at the Port of Gothenburg will be coordinated with the closure of the present terminal, which is operated by Green Cargo. It has not yet been decided who will be the new operator following the move to the port.

Apart from intermodal, the rail freight terminal is used for cross-docking timber and paper shipments that arrive by rail. These operations will cease on 31 March 2017. “We have a number of cross-docking terminals for forest products in the port area,” said Guthed. “We are working intensively to expand capacity at these terminals to ensure the same volumes can continue to be cross-docked.”

Already around half of all containers moved over Gothenburg arrive or leave the port by rail, the highest intermodal rail share for any port in Europe. Guthed is confident that this share can be increased further. “With the intermodal
terminal located in the heart of the port, new opportunities will be opened up to transport from road to rail, with substantial environmental gains as a result.” 

In particular, locating the facility next to the ro-ro terminal increases the opportunity for trailers to be transferred to rail for the inland leg. The existing terminal already transfers around 70,000 trailers/ year, and the potential is much greater inside the port, since it cuts out a short road leg.

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This complete item is approximately 300 words in length, and appeared in the October 2016 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 17. To access this issue download the PDF here.