From 1 January 2023, the terminal Cologne North (TKN), currently managed by HGK Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln, will be operated by Hupac Group. The Swiss company won a tender for the operation of the German terminal in November this year.

Cologne is a strategic logistics hub with connections to road, rail and in close proximity to the Rhine port Köln Niehl. At the moment, HGK is developing the FU-SION COLOGNE industrial and logistics site, not far away from the terminal. TKN is therefore a valuable addition to the network of terminals Hupac already opeartes.

The investment

“Terminals are a strategic resource for the modal shift and are of outstanding importance, especially in agglomerations such as the Rhine/Ruhr area,” says Hupac CEO Michail Stahlhut. “We invest in resources and in intelligent systems to bring out maximum performance at the interface between road and rail.”

At the same time, HGK says it is “very pleased that the Hupac Group, a renowned company, has won the tender to operate the terminal”, Uwe Wedig, CEO of the HGK Group was cited.

Conveniently located

The bi-modal Terminal Köln Nord is conveniently located near the motorway junction Köln Niehl (A1/A57) and is directly connected to the Rhine port Köln Niehl via rail. It has an area of 152,000 square metres with five transhipment tracks and three gantry cranes. Up to ten trains can be loaded and unloaded inbound and outbound per day.

“We are looking forward to the new task, which we will master together with the experienced terminal team,” says Sascha Altenau, managing director of the Hupac subsidiary Combiconnect Köln Nord GmbH. “Already today we welcome all existing and new customers of the terminal.”

Combined transport

The invitation to tender for combined transport operation is required by the directive on the support of intermodal terminals of non-federally owned companies. Before the transition is completed on 1 January 2023, all organisational and administrative processes will be coordinated with customers and partners.

The transfer of lease and operations results in a transfer of employment for the existing workforce in accordance with § 613 a BGB. The existing employment relationships will be taken over by the future Combiconnect Köln Nord GmbH with legal security.