Antwerp road-rail hub sets impressive targets

The new 10 acre multi-modal hub, Combinant NV, is being built up to early next year for use by all train operators on a site owned by European pharmaceuticals giant BASF on the north side of the port of Antwerp, Europe’s second largest seaport. It will boast five rail tracks and three portal cranes to handle 10 to 12 trains a day.

Backing the project, along with BASF, are Swiss intermodal firm Hupac and Belgian Railways (SNCB) subsidiary IFB. BASF was quoted as saying it planned to increase its use of rail for freight from about 4% now to 10%. Hupac spokeswoman Irmtraut Tonndorf told MJ Antwerp was becoming ‘a crucial hub in our intermodal network, connecting the west axis to the east axis. We expect traffic to grow strongly’, she said.

The transfer of an impressive 150,000 containers a year from road to rail would reduce the 19,000 trucks moving cargo into and out of the Port every day by 600, while CO2 emissions would drop by 30,000 tons a year.

About a third of the cost of Combinant NV is being found by the Flemish government and the European Regional Development Fund ERDF. Terminal operations will be placed in the hands of an external operator being sought in bidding now under way. Building contractors have also not yet been named.

Terminal partners said they wanted to anticipate the time when there would be a shortage of intermodal rail infrastructure in the Port of Antwerp, They said they also wanted to avoid ‘impending gridlock’ on the roads while reducing transport costs and environmental damage and increasing transport safety.

By Tom Todd