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. In addition, the Halkali terminal, located near Istanbul, has also been connected to the network.The Metrans network now extends from Gdansk, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven and Rotterdam in northern Europe to Koper, Trieste, Piraeus and Istanbul in the south.
“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,“ said Peter Kiss, CEO of METRANS-Group.
The first train with containers left METRANS HUB Dunajská Streda (Slovakia) for Halkali terminal in Istanbul on 3 September. In the beginning, two return train connections per week will be operated. The new connection with Turkey is made possible thanks to the cooperation with the Turkish logistic provider Omsan Logistics, which has a strong background in the Turkish market.
The connection to Turkey with its long rail distance contributes even more than other rail connections to reducing climate-damaging road traffic and underlines HHLA’s commitment to sustainability.
In Poland, METRANS is closing a missing link on its European network map with a connection to the Baltic Sea. From September, three weekly regular train services are planned between the DCT terminal in Gdansk and the Metrans terminal in Ostrava in the Czech Republic, with a stopover in Dabrowa Gornicza near Katowice.
“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,” commented Peter Kiss.
