First Polish container terminal joins InlandLinks
The CLIP Container terminal at Swarzedz (near Poznan), Poland has joined InlandLinks, said in the press release. This brings the total number of terminals to 35: 27 in the Netherlands, 4 in Germany, 3 in Belgium and 1 in Poland. Swarzedz is directly connected to the Port of Rotterdam by a shuttle train running three times a week, operated by ERS Railways. As of June 11th 2013, the frequency of the shuttle connection will be extended to five departures per week and direction with direct calls of Rotterdam RSC as well as POF / Stena Line Terminal (Europoort). The terminal in Swarzedz is bimodal and has currently a capacity of 15,000 TEU a year. The terminal currently disposes of 1 rail track of 780 meters length to which will be soon added parallel track of 700 meters. The storage capacity amounts to 800 TEU on the 0.65 hectare site.
InlandLinks is the online platform for container terminals in the hinterland, offering inter modal services to/from Rotterdam. The terminals are presented on the basis of objective and comparable criteria. This enables all participants in the logistics chain to identify the general and specific advantages better. It also contributes to a rise of intermodal transport by train and barge of the flow of containers that triples in the next 25 years. InlandLinks is an initiative of the Port of Rotterdam Authority and developed 2 years ago in cooperation with VITO (Dutch Inland Container Terminal Organisation).
Rotterdam expects to see container flows triple in the next 25 years. Due to the growth in world trade, the favourable geographic location and the increase in very large container ships, each with a capacity in the region of 20,000 units. Of the total of some 30 million TEU handled in 2035, approx. 2 million are expected to be shipped in and out using smaller vessels from and to European ports. Some 18 million TEU will travel to and from the hinterland via intermodal transport. For this flow, InlandLinks should give insight in better and more sustainable connections.
