East-West Intermodal Logistics has announced that the construction of the largest and most modern railway intermodal combi terminal in Europe has been launched in Fényeslitke, Hungary, at the border with Ukraine.
The terminal is expected to be completed in January 2022, while its final handover is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022. EUR 61 million is the value of the investment which is covered entirely from private sources. The Hungarian Government has provided EUR 8.2 million to EWG as job creation subsidy.
With strategic points on the economic corridor of the Belt and Road Initiative, the terminal is expected to have a capacity of 1 million TEU per year. At the time of handover, the container and combi capacity will be 300-500 thousand TEU units.
It will be an important transport node in delivering goods between Asia and Europe on a fast alternative route. The terminal is considered the western gateway to the New Silk Road, offering a faster alternative route to Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Germany for freight traffic from Asia than the current land and maritime routes.
The terminal which is being built at the meeting point of the Russian wide-gauge and the European gauge rail network in Hungary, is also a new, high-capacity opportunity for the export traffic to Asia from Western Europe. In addition, it may also have an important role in the better use of the Trans-Siberian railway which has undergone significant improvements in the recent years.
The terminal will have an area of 125 hectares. The terminal will provide a full range of logistics services and when the operations starts, it will offer customers 15,000 square meters of leasable warehouse space. On the available unbuilt areas, an additional 500,000 square meters of warehouse, assembly or production plant can be established if required.
The new terminal will benefit both broad and standard gauge rail systems, with five 1520-mm tracks and five European gauge tracks. The 850 m-long craneable tracks will serve four 740 m-long trains at the same time.
The East-West Gate (EWG) will be the Europe’s first intermodal combi terminal based on green technology using its own 5G network for internal communication and operation of its technology devices. The facility will be powered by green technology, in line with the EU’s rail and climate strategy. A high-performance solar park as well as a heat pump system will provide power, and only electric terminal tractors and e-cars will be used in the terminal area.
In addition to its fast and efficient loading technology compared to similar terminals in Poland and Belarus, and its free areas for further development, the railway intermodal combi terminal will have the significant advantage of handling ATEX- and ADR-certified 45-tonne cranes with dangerous goods. Special handling materials, such as gas tank containers and chemicals, can also be transshipped. The terminal is also suitable for craning conventional public road semi-trailers onto rail wagons.
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