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The second half of this year will see a major
expansion of the container transfer capacity in the
Port of Rotterdam after the new Euromax terminal
opens for business after the summer. This terminal
will be capable of handling the largest container
ships, carrying up to 15,000 TEU in cargo. The
Euromax transfer facilities will be outfitted with
six railway tracks measuring 700 metres each, thus
ensuring sufficient capacity to transport a significant
amount of all inland bound cargo by rail. Rail capacity
can be further increased in phases by adding six
additional tracks at a time, finally resulting in a
terminal with access to 24 tracks dedicated to cargo
transfer. It is estimated that thirty percent of cargo
passing through the Euromax complex will be railwaybound
container traffic. Road traffic and inland
shipping will make up an additional thirty and
forty percent.
Initially the Euromax terminal will have a total
capacity of 2 million TEU, but this can be further
expanded up to 4 million TEU annually in phases.
The rail terminal will benefit of the newly constructed
Betuwe Route, a dedicated freight railway running
from the Port of Rotterdam to Emmerich on the
German border, from the get-go. The Euromax can be
considered the Betuwe Route's starting point since it
is directly linked to the Betuwe Route branch of the
Port railway line.
Aside from the great demand for larger terminals in
Rotterdam's port, the growing call for smaller,
specialized rail terminals cannot go unheard. The
opening of the Pernis Combi Terminal (PCT) is one
manner in which this growing need has been met.
This trimodal terminal is situated at a strategic
location in the local road network, adjacent to both
the Benelux tunnel and the A4 highway. In addition,
its rail infrastructure taps into the Port railway
line directly.
Last year a similar, small, specialized trimodal
terminal owned by the Swiss rail operator Bertschi AG
opened up for business in Rotterdam's Botlek area.
A direly needed addition to local infrastructure,
considering that almost all terminals in the port area
are operating near maximum capacity. At the Bertschi
terminal, where rail and road traffic meet, transfers
mainly consist of tank containers.
The terminal covers a surface area of approximately
3.5 hectares. The maximum annual transfer capacity
is 120,000 TEU, with a stacking area for temporary
storage measuring 1,200 TEU. The terminal has three
tracks running through it, measuring a total 1,350
metres in length, bridged by a crane with a maximum
load capacity of 40 tons. The Swiss rail operator has
invested 10 million euros in the terminal. Bertschi AG,
based in Dürrennäsch, 50 kilometres south-east of
Basel, specialises in container transport of liquid and
dry bulk chemicals. Bertschi AG operates a fleet
consisting of over a thousand trucks and trailers and
1,200 semi-trailers carrying over 12,000 (tank)
containers through a network of 42 subsidiaries in
20 countries.
Adding the newly built terminal in the Rotterdam area,
Bertschi now controls a European intermodal
transport network spanning twelve terminals.
Immediately after the opening ceremony the first
container shuttle left for Italy on a new intermodal
transport line connecting Rotterdam, Frankfurt and
the intermodal terminal Busto Arsizio Gallerate
near Milan.
At the moment four freight trains operate on this
line in both directions weekly, but an increase in
frequency is inevitable, since the terminal is
capable of handling a similar amount of traffic
on a daily basis. And Bertschi doesn't intend to
stop there either.
Destinations in Switzerland, Austria, Eastern Europe,
Russia and Scandinavian countries are being added
to Bertschi's rail network. Each of the new lines has
container trains with a capacity of 80 TEU operating
on a high frequency schedule.
On a side note: plans are in the making to expand the
Rail Service Center Rotterdam in the Waalhaven later
this year to meet the rapidly growing demand for rail
transfer capacity.
Bertschi's Rotterdam rail terminal has an annual transfer capacity of 120,000 TEU
Photo: Wim Scheurkogel
The unyielding pressure exerted on rail terminals by
the ever increasing cargo loads passing through
them makes efficient handling at transfer points of
ever greater importance.
In the Port of Rotterdam, a specialized railway
company called Rotterdam Rail Feeding (RFF) has
made effective handling its business.
RFF is licensed to operate its trains on entire Dutch
rail network and runs a freight lines spanning the
nation and some foreign border towns.
The company exclusively uses third-party
locomotives to operate it lines and its services
consist mainly of ensuring that the full capacity of
trains departing from numerous terminals in the
Rotterdam Port area, is fully realised.
RRF counts Rail4Chem-Benelux, Railion, ERS,
ACTS, ITL Benelux and the Rurtalbahn amongst its
clients. RRF's success is due to a number of factors
but for one, it has locomotives standing by
permanently at several terminals in the Waalhaven
and on all railway stations in the Europoort, Botlek
and Maasvlakte areas.
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