05.09.2022
Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG’s (HHLA) subsidiary METRANS is offering new rail connections between the Baltic Sea, Central Europe and Turkey. As another terminal in the northern hemisphere, Gdansk is now served by METRANS trains.
And in the far southeast, already a few kilometres into Asia, the Halkali Terminal close to Istanbul was connected with the METRANS Network. Therefore, the complete rail network is now stretching from Gdansk, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven and Rotterdam in northern Europe to Koper, Trieste, Piraeus and Istanbul in the south.
Peter Kiss, CEO of METRANS-Group: “The new relations fit well into the philosophy of our dynamic group. We are connecting an increasing number of ports with our strategically positioned HUB terminals for the transhipment of containers across Europe. More relations mean a more attractive service for our customers, operationally as well as in terms of costs.“
The new connection with Turkey was made possible by a cooperation with the Turkish logistic provider Omsan Logistics. The first train with containers left the METRANS HUB Terminal Dunajska Streda (Slovakia) on the 3 rd of September in direction to Istanbul terminal Halkali. In the beginning, two round trip weekly train connections are planned.
More than other rail services, the connection with Turkey with its long rail distance contributes to the reduction of road traffic and underlines HHLA’s commitment to sustainability. Together with Omsan Logistics, it is a chance to reduce the carbon footprint on this important relation. The Logistics provider has a strong background on the Turkish market. As an inhouse logistics provider of OYAK group, they will
support METRANS with their deep market knowledge.
In Poland, METRANS is closing a missing link on its European network map with a connection to the Baltic Sea. From September 2022, regular trains between the Czech METRANS terminal Ostrava and DCT container terminal in Gdansk are starting on a promising relation. Now the boxes of METRANS customers can cross Poland from the south to the north three times every week in each direction, with a stopover in Dabrowa Gornicza near Katowice.
“We enable our customers in Central and Eastern Europe to get regular connections to the port of Gdansk”, Peter Kiss is adding. “This is a welcomed, long awaited connection, which brings new opportunities to the customers and the market. As you would expect from METRANS, we are presenting a sustainable innovation: The block trains between Gdansk and Ostrava are optimised in length which can reach up to 750 meters. That is increasing capacity of a single train to 112 standard containers and helps to consume less energy per box.”
