North Sea Port opens 12 new rail destinations

Photo: North Sea Port

North Sea Port and Lineas join forces to increase efficiency with 12 new rail connections to the European hinterland

The cross-border port known as North Sea Port was founded on 1 January 2018 and is the result of a merger between the Dutch Zeeland Seaports (Vlissingen and Terneuzen) and the Flemish/Belgian port of Gent. It covers the 60-kilometre-long area that stretches from Vlissingen on the North Sea coast in the Netherlands, some 32 kilometers inland to Ghent in Belgium.

The new connection between Interface Terminal Ghent and the Lineas Main Hub in Antwerp opens up 12 new destinations. These include Madrid, Granollers (Barcelona) and Tarragona (Spain), Hendaye (France), Schkopau (Germany), Lovosice (Czech Republic), Curtici (Romania), Malmö (Sweden), Milan (Italy), Wels and Vienna (Austria), and Basel (Switzerland).

Goods are unloaded and loaded at the Interface Terminal Ghent at the Kluizendok. This unique 4-modal container terminal (sea shipping, inland shipping, rail and road transport) has 750-meter triple rail lines to receive trains. Trains then travel to Antwerp, where they connect to the Lineas European rail network. The Ghent terminal benefits additionally from a short-sea connection to the United Kingdom (Hull).

Currently, some 7.7m tons of goods are brought in and out of North Sea Port by rail each year. This accounts for nearly 10% of transport to and from the hinterland.

Daan Schalck, CEO, North Sea Port, said, "For many companies these 12 extra destinations offer opportunities to transport goods to the hinterland by rail. Many quays and business parks in North Sea Port include rail tracks and track bundles."

Sam Bruynseels, CCO, Lineas, added, "The connection between Ghent and Antwerp provides an opportunity for companies to transfer more volumes by rail to the European hinterland every day via our Green Xpress Network. It is our intention to increase the frequency in the coming period, so that in the long term we can establish direct connections between Ghent and European destinations."