By enabling the use of 750-metre trains, the IV Rail Module should raise the maximum capacity at the facility. The upgrade is also supposed to increase the number of trains handled per day by building new tracks. Verona Interporto currently has 37 main operational tracks and six support tracks across several terminals, as well as a shunting area.

The upgrade comes in expectation of the Brenner Base Tunnel opening – a vital link on the Scandinavian-Mediterranean TEN-T corridor. This opens up new opportunities for international rail freight operations and an increase in traffic. The Verona Interporto hub is also located on the Mediterranean TEN-T corridor.

Following a good year

TX Logistik proceeded with these two upgrades following a relatively solid performance in 2023, at least expansion-wise. Two of last year’s highlights included commencing the joint operation of the combined transport terminal Logport III in Duisburg (Ziel Terminal) alongside duisport and Samskip. The company holds a 25.1 per cent share in the joint venture established for the terminal’s operation, with duisport also holding 25.1 per cent and Samskip maintaining the lion’s share of 49.8 per cent.

The second highlight was the acquisition of Exploris Deutschland Holding, which includes companies like the HSL Logistik group, Delta Rail, and Via Cargo. This development will play an important role in streamlining the company’s network expansion, especially on the east-west axis, with more services between Germany and Poland and Czechia and Slovakia. More importantly, the acquisition helped the company increase its market share in Germany even more since it became the country’s second-largest operator.

No information on costs or timetable yet

The initiative was made public a Memorandum of Understanding signed during an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of the ZAI Consortium, an association for the development of the local economy. Other than ZAI, the other signatories were QETG and Italian infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI). It is not yet clear how this project will be financed or its timetable. However, last week, the Italian Ministry of Transport made available 11 million euros for the development of some intermodal terminals, including the Quadrante Europa which should get one million.

Another step towards the Brenner Base Tunnel

The railway line passing through Verona is the only one leading to the main border crossing between Italy and Austria: the Brenner Pass. Here, the Brenner Base Tunnel is expected to open in 2032, which will significantly reduce transit time and increase capacity along this axis. For this purpose, Italy is also working on the Trento bypass, closer to the border with Austria. This project, which should be commissioned in 2026, will provide access to the Brenner Base Tunnel on the Italian side.

The Quadrante Europa intermodal terminal

In 2022, the Quadrante Europa handled 15,010 trains, the vast majority of which, 13,814, were intermodal. This amounted to 780,802 TEUs and over eight million tonnes of cargo. The whole facility covers an area of 2,5 million square metres and, according to its website, is the first in Italy when it comes to combined transport volumes. Currently, the majority of the goods are moved by road, roughly 20 million yearly tonnes, while only eight go via rail. The projects included in the MoU are thus expected to boost the modal shift and decongest the very busy roads of Veneto and the rest of northern Italy. The facility can count on various national and international connections. Domestically, it has links to Bari, Brindisi, Nola, and Giovinazzo in the south, and Genoa and La Spezia in the north. Most of the international connections are to Germany, including Cologne, Ludwigshafen, Nuremberg, Lubeck, Hannover, Hamburg, Kiel, Wanne, Rostock, and Munich. Other international connections are Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Padborg.

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RCG says the Verona-Wuppertal service will “create a direct network connection without a stopover for continental flows of goods between northern Italy and the Ruhr region” and could relieve the congestion in the Tyrol area. The service operates on a three-weekly round-trip basis and will transport goods between the Sommacampagna-Sona terminal near Verona and the DUSS terminal in Wuppertal-Langerfeld.

Gotthard Tunnel accident

The Gotthard Tunnel accident occurred on Tuesday, 10 August, when a train derailed inside the tunnel. The accident has received much attention in the European rail freight world as few alternative routes are available for the traffic between Italy and Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) specified that the accident was caused by an issue with the convoy and not with the infrastructure.

Clearance and rescue works in the western tube of the Gotthard Tunnel are expected to be finished by the end of September. SBB is currently working on removing the impacted wagons and locomotives, with eight railcars remaining in the tunnel waiting to be removed. After completing this task, carried out in parallel with the tunnel’s damage assessment, SBB will be able to commence reconstruction, which is not expected to be finished before 2024.

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• Gotthard Tunnel’s closure prolonged, no re-opening date in sight
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The Domegliara-Neuss train will run three times per week, allowing a connection between the northeast of Italy, the Ruhr area in Germany, and the Benelux region. This service was already running while Amborgio was waiting for the Domegliara terminal to be ready. Until now, the trains used to depart from the Valpolicella Railway Terminal, not too far from the location of the new facility. The company claimed that, with the new terminal, they are expecting to increase this service to four or five rotations per week.

Ambrogio Intermodal

Ambrogio Intermodal is one of the major Italian intermodal transportation companies on the national and international market. Funded in 1969, Ambrogio operates through a private European network, with 7 rail terminals, a fleet of 400 freight wagons and over 1,300 intermodal units.

The company can count on covered swap bodies and 45’ box containers, mostly used to transport dry cargo. The company takes care of the transportation of goods for various sectors: agro-food, petrochemical, steel, and paper, as Giulia Ambrogio said.

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• Construction of key infrastructure for Scan-Med corridor in Italy started

Samskip in Duisburg

Samskip is one of the most active companies in Duisburg. Other than these new services, Samskip also launched two rail freight services from the German inland port. One to Verona, not too far from Padua, was launched a couple of weeks ago and is always operated by TX Logistik. The other one, to Macon, in France, was launched at the end of February and is operated by Delta Rail.

The company also announced in March a joint venture called Ziel Terminal with TX Logistik and duisport to operate the Logport III Terminal in Duisburg. Moreover, in October, Samskip launched a new intermodal service between the port of Rostock, in Sweden, and the German inland port in cooperation with Hector Rail.

Also read:

• TX Logistics links jointly operated Duisburg terminal with Padua in Italy
• Samskip extends rail network by joining APM Terminals Gothenburg
• Samskip partners up with GATX with 15 new rail wagons

As the Arcese spokesperson pointed out, the service is an example of modal shift from road to rail. It will be suitable for trailers and swap bodies and will involve “all sorts of goods, from automotive to e-commerce, general cargo, coils, and home appliances”, the spokesperson added. Below is the timetable for the new services.

Also read:

• Arcese shifts from road to rail with newest convoy in Italy
• Eurotunnel’s new shuttle service reduces transit time and increases volumes
• New Rennes-Lille rail service coming soon

Other key Scan-Med connections increased

Since the beginning of the year, trains connecting Leipzig with Sona, 10 kilometres from Verona, are running 10 times per week instead of the eight previously scheduled. The service connecting the Baltic Rail Gate in Lubeck and the Quadrante Europa terminal in Verona will get an additional eighth weekly roundtrip.

TX Logistik also stated that its connections from Lubeck to Milan will now serve the terminal in Segrate instead of the one in Melzo. This is because Segrate is slightly closer to Milan. Moreover, from Segrate, TX Logistik can count on many connections managed by its mother company Mercitalia to reach other important Italian destinations including Rome, Naples, and Sicily.

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Transit time revolves around eight hours and Lugo Terminals makes available the container it owns. With this service, it is possible to transport 45-foot containers, 30-foot bulk containers, and tank containers, as a Lugo Terminal spokesperson told RailFreight.com. The new rotations will be implemented on Fridays and Wednesdays.

Mercitalia pointed out how this is another, significant step towards reaching the goals set by the European Green Deal. The new version of the service is expected to remove around 27,500 intermodal units from the road and consequently save over 1,200 tonnes of CO2 from being emitted.

The Lugo Terminal in Giovinazzo

Lugo Terminal is an Italian company that owns various rail terminals in Italy. The Lugo Terminal in Giovinazzo is spread over an area of 34,500 square metres. It is equipped with four rail tracks, three operative ones, and one used for stocking operations. The length of the tracks goes from 350 to 750 metres.

The terminal takes care of cargo handling as well as shunting operations. From the terminal, Lugo Terminal offers additional connections to Lugo and Parma, in the heart of Italy. From Verona, the company has connections to many hubs in Germany.

The spokesperson from Lugo Terminal added that the partnership with Lugo Terminal started four years ago. Mercitalia has been handling the service between Verona and Giovinazzo since January 2021.

How did the system work?

The two men would approach their customers, or victims, at the Verona Porta Nuova station. They would take them to the nearby terminal Quadrante Europa and, after the sun would set, the illegal immigrants were loaded on truck trailers that were going to be moved on rail convoys. To make sure that the wagon inspections would not arouse suspicion, the two men would cut the tarp covering the container in a way that would fool the vector inspectors.

Also read:

• TX Logistics reveals the new NiKRASA 3.0 system
• Italy reimburses rail freight companies for losses due to COVID-19