THE completion of a rail expansion at the Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) has increased the Port of Hamburg handling capacity by 200,000 TEU per year.

With the addition of two extra tracks and two new rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs), CTB now has a capacity of 850,000 TEU per year, a total of 10 tracks and four RMGs.



Even before the expansion, CTB, in the Port of Hamburg, was one of the biggest terminals in Europe, reports London's Container Management.



'We have expanded our rail terminal once more to provide customers with more than just extra capacity,' said CTB managing director Andreas Hollman.



'The four rail gantry cranes, which work independently of one another, enable more flexible processing and faster reaction times for all throughput,' he said.



According to terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA), all of the cranes are operated using environmentally-friendly green electricity and two RMGs will serve five tracks each.



Additionally, the longest trains permitted, which measure 740 metres, can be processed on all 10 tracks.



Located in one of Europe's largest rail ports, annual rail throughput at CTB has grown by 50 per cent since 2010.



Simultaneously, the share of rail transport in the total container volume at the Port of Hamburg has increased from 36.5 per cent in 2010 to 42.8 per cent in 2017.



HHLA executive board member Jens Hansen believes that the expansion of rail transport capacities at CTB could further increase rail's share in the diverse range of carriers in the medium term.



'The numerous high-frequency rail connections give the Port of Hamburg a clear advantage against other European ports,' said Mr Hansen.



'We believe rail connections will increase considerably from 2020 through the improved transport connections of CTB. And we are already prepared for this,' he said.



Once the new Waltershofer road and railway bridges are operational, CTB will have two sidings to the Hamburg port railway and an additional feeder to the CTB rail terminal due to new shunting switches.



HHLA has also planned to invest EUR800 million (US$908.9 million) in the Port Logistics subgroup, of which EUR450 million is dedicated to the container segment and EUR350 million has been put toward intermodal.


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