More than 300 participants gathered in Warsaw for the fifth edition of the RailFreight Summit Poland. The event kicked off with the opening of Hupac's new terminal in Brwinów near the Polish capital. The inauguration fitted perfectly into the discussions on Polish rail freight and the new reality for Poland's logistics sector.
On 07SEP22, Swiss combined transport operator Hupac opened its new transshipment terminal in Brwinów, near Warsaw, Poland. The terminal is located in a logistics district about 25 km southwest of Warsaw. The facilities currently offer customers a handling capacity of twelve train pairs per day. This means that up to 180,000 containers can be shifted from road to rail each year. According to Hupac's calculations, this shift prevents daily road traffic congestions of 10 km, leading to CO2 emissions savings of up to 250,000 tons per year.
Strengthening the Warsaw economic region
The new terminal in Poland is an important prerequisite for the further development of the European rail network. Until now, there have been no capacity reserves for intermodal traffic within a
radius of around 120 kilometers around Warsaw. The new terminal creates prospects for the growth of the entire sector. Companies wishing to switch to climate-friendly combined transport will in
future have sufficient capacity in the greater Warsaw economic region. The facility will strengthen the sustainable exchange of goods in Central and Eastern Europe and enable further growth in
combined transport. "The infrastructure is being developed in accordance with our proven step-by-step approach," explains Michail Stahlhut, CEO of the Hupac Group. In the first phase,
two transshipment tracks and three service tracks were put into operation, with transshipment being carried out with reachstackers. Two were already in operation and could be inspected, a third
will be purchased soon. In the second phase, further expansion of capacity is planned with the commissioning of three additional handling tracks and more powerful gantry cranes. The terminal is
already designed for 740-meter trains. "In this way, we anticipate the parameters of European freight corridors and achieve maximum productivity for combined transport trains," clarifies
Mr. Stahlhut.
Ideal intermodal location
The Brwinów terminal opens real opportunities for the further development of combined transport. After the terminal goes into operation in the fall of 2022, Hupac will gradually transfer existing
connections to the new facility. Europe's leading network operator in intermodal transport is convinced that Brwinów in the heart of Poland is the ideal location for international connections to
the Polish market. In the medium term, the company sees prospects not only in strengthening traffic on the east-west axis, but also in developing traffic on the north-south axis, where Brwinów
can take on a central hub function.
The investment costs of the project, which began in 2017 and was finally completed at the end of August 2022 after a pause due to the pandemic, amounted to 37 million euros. In total, the
facility covers an area of 140,000 square meters, roughly the size of seven soccer fields, and features a check-in area, a 42,000-square-meter transshipment area, office facilities and technical
buildings, plus 160,000 square meters reserved for future developments.
Broad spectrum of services offered
The owner and operator of the facility is the Polish company Hupac Terminal Brwinów Sp z o.o. In addition to smooth handling, the services available include customs services, loading stations for
containers and weighing of loading units, clarified Diana Batko, managing director of Hupac's subsidiary in Poland. The terminal is accessible to all railroads in accordance with applicable EU
law. The operator is also taking this step in order to bring more rail freight traffic to Poland and to help connect the Polish rail network even more closely to Western and Central European
traffic and to promote European integration.
Containers rather than tanks
The inauguration of the terminal in Brwinów marked the start of the 5th Railfreight Summit Poland, which took place in Warsaw on September 7 and 8. A new record number of participants, upon their
return from Brwinów, listened to the presentations organized by Railfreight.com on the pressing issues of the industry. In addition to a look at the new reality in Poland in Corona times followed
by the Russian attack on Ukraine, the first day of the conference saw lively discussions on ways to increase combined transport as well as the status and future of Polish railroad infrastructure
in light of these developments.
On the second day a deeper look at Poland’s role on the New Silk Road was presented. The day started with a flaming appeal by Marcin Witczak, CEO of Laude Smart Intermodal to save Ukraine,
because if containers do not manage to cross borders, tanks will, he urgently warned.
Thomas Felber
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