A major new rail freight terminal has opened in the Hungarian capital Budapest, strengthening the central and eastern Europe operations of its Metrans, the intermodal subsidiary of the Port of Hamburg Authority (Hamburger Hafen und Logistik HHLA). 

intermodal business is a huge area for HHLA, with revenues of 390 million Euros by the group’s transport companies playing a significant part in the company’s financial success last year. HHLA said it was planning to maintain its strong position in the highly competitive market for container traffic by further investing in facilities, locomotives and wagons.

Hinterland network

The 140,000 square metres terminal operates 24/7 and can manage six trains simultaneously. It has two rail-mounted gantry cranes, as well as six rail lines of 650 metres and two of 500 metres. It is capable of handling approximately 250 trains a month, which equates to some 250,000 TEUs each year.

Angela Titzrath, Chair of HHLA’s Executive Board, said: “With this facility in Budapest, HHLA is expanding its hinterland network to include another strategic intersection point. Its location at the heart of Europe makes it the perfect interface between the north European seaports and south-east Europe.”

High frequency

Peter Kiss, Managing Director of Metrans, said he foresaw great opportunities for the company as a result of its presence in Hungary, and added: “The opening of this facility will enable us to respond to our customers’ needs even more effectively, flexibly and quickly. The high frequency of the shuttle trains that link to the seaports and the hinterland hub will provide an extremely reliable transport chain.”

It is Metrans’ fourth European rail hub, following those in Prague, Česká Třebová (also Czech Republic) and Dunajska Streda (Slovakia). HHLA’s subsidiaries Metrans and Polzug together operate 13 terminals in mainland Europe, five of which are major hubs. The Budapest terminal’s location next to the Danube means it also has potential to expand into trimodal use.