Poland moves closer to German sea ports

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) and the rail operator Polzug Intermodal have opened a hub terminal near the Polish city of Poznan. The cutting-edge site - the first of its kind in Poland - now allows daily shuttle trains to be run between the North European sea ports and Poznan. This reduces transport times between Hamburg and Poznan alone by about a third.

Polzug Intermodal will be pooling rail freight transport from all the North European sea ports - especially Hamburg and Bremerhaven - in Poznan for distribution throughout Poland on the spokes of its hub network. In addition to its central position for West-East traffic, the site in Poznan has the advantage of high local freight volume.

The opening of the hub terminal and the daily shuttle connections bring the dynamic economic region around Poznan closer to the North European sea ports. The journey time between Hamburg and Poznan is reduced from 18 hours to 12, and transport can also be carried out much more flexibly and reliably.

Altogether HHLA Intermodal Polska, a subsidiary of HHLA, invested around EUR 15 million in the new hub. The rail operator Polzug, which operates the terminal, contributed EUR 1 million. Polzug already has a tightly-knit terminal network in Poland, with sites in Katowice (Dabrowa Gornicza), Wroclaw and Warsaw (Pruszkow).

The hub in Poznan currently has four tracks of at least 610 meters in length, capable of serving an entire block train. They make it possible to handle the daily shuttle trains without the need for shunting.