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At the Rail Service Center Rotterdam (RSC), located in the Waalhaven, work has begun on expanding its
transfer capacity. The rail infrastructure is currently being scaled up, and a new stacking area will be
constructed as well. The number of container cranes, currently limited to four, will soon be
increased to six. Expansion of the RSC's transfer capacity is no luxury.
Rail terminals in the Port of Rotterdam are congested to the point of gridlock. There is little
room for further development, and that while intermodal rail traffic is experiencing rapid growth
throughout Europe. This is why the current rail terminal is being expanded in the direction of the
Maasvlakte. Four existing 500 metre rail tracks will be extended up to 750 metres, making it possible for
trains leaving this part of the terminal to access the Havenspoorlijn (port railway line) directly. This direct
connection to the Betuwe Route will make for more flexible and efficient railroad service.
Intentions are to complete the expansion of the RSC in the first half of this year, enabling the terminal to
handle an extra four to six trains a day. The Rotterdam RSC already handles more than sixty
trains daily. The RSC is also revising its train handling procedures. This will further expand daily capacity by
ten to twelve trains.
Altogether, this means that the RSC's capacity will grow by at least 60 trains a week. The
aforementioned expansion of the stacking area constitutes an important improvement to the RSC.
This will add six hectares of space for the temporary storage of containers, swap bodies and trailers,
making for a total of 750 TEU.
Currently the rail terminal has more than 1,500 similar storage locations at its disposal.
About two thirds of all cargo transferred at the RSC is shipped in containers, the rest on trailers and
swap bodies. Annual transfer capacity comes to 550,000 units.
The Euromax Terminal, which will be fully operational halfway through 2009, is yet another important
addition to the transfer facilities in the Rotterdam port area. Even though it has been in business since
January 1 2009, tests of the handling of container trains will continue to be conducted in the coming
months as they were last year.
The Euromax terminal opened for business on January 1 2009.
Photo Wim Scheurkogel
Trial runs will be conducted of loading and transferring railborne containers. During this initial
phase, six railroad tracks measuring approximately one thousand meters each will run through the
Euromax terminal. This means that several 750-metre trains - the European standard - can be handled
simultaneously. Two container cranes span the tracks running through the Euromax rail terminal, which
effectively serves as both the start and finish of the Betuwe Route.
By now, construction of the Maasvlakte 2 is well under way. Not only does this ensure a sizable
expansion of container transfer capacity in the coming decades, it also gives a definitive boost to
Rotterdam's railroad services.
The rail network that will be built on the Maasvlakte 2 will make it possible for every future container
terminal to have its own rail feed. Terminal operators will be responsible for the expansion of the terminal,
and expectations are that rail terminals will be set up in the rear of the terminal facilities, a layout identical
to the one used in the Euromax rail terminal. Euromax will expand the six-track terminal it recently took into
operation to 24 tracks in due time.
Contracts with the companies that will be established on the Maasvlakte 2 stipulate that the
cargo of a maximum of 35 percent of all containers will continue its journey by truck. This is currently
47 percent. The percentage of containers transported by inland ships is to grow from 40 to 45 percent and
railborne cargo handling is set to increase from 13 to 20 percent. These changes will be implemented
gradually and are to be fully realized by 2035 at the latest. To make sure these ambitious targets are met,
15 kilometers of double tracked railroad will be constructed on the Maasvlakte 2.
Rail Service Centre Rotterdam was heavily expanded this year.
Photo Wim Scheurkogel
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