“The expansion of the Mercator rail yard is a key lever for a more efficient and sustainable flow of goods in Ghent, at North Sea Port”, commented Flemish Prime Minister Matthias Diependaele. “Flanders is fully committed to multimodal accessibility: we do this via waterways, among other means, but our railways also offer opportunities.”

Companies such as Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, DFDS and ArcelorMittal stand to benefit from the Mercator expansion. They are all located in the vicinity of the rail yard. The infrastructure is of “great importance” to the companies, according to North Sea Port.

Future connection with the Netherlands

With the construction work now finalised, the Mercator rail yard has six tracks that are 750 metres or more in length. The three remaining tracks are 545, 580, and 623 metres long. The total investment for the upgrade amounted to 12,5 million euros, of which 8,5 million euros came from European funds. By 2029, the track bundle will also be equipped with signals and automatic switches.

North Sea Port says that a future investment will give the port a direct connection with the Netherlands. “This should allow shipments from Dutch companies to be combined with those from companies at the Kluizendok.” Kluizendok is a dock in the north of the port. “This will make rail transport in and around the port area more accessible for companies with smaller volumes.”

The Mercator rail yard expansion fits into a broader strategy to improve rail infrastructure in the port. Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel has invested 17 million euros in 750-metre tracks elsewhere in the port in recent years.

The warehouse will be located in Ghent’s Kluizendok on the left bank of the port. According to DSV, “the building will contain 6,000 square metres of temperature-controlled storage areas with ambient temperatures of 2-8°C, -20°C and -40°C.” Additionally, it will offer extra space for the storage of dangerous goods and will be able to accommodate multiple trucks at a time, considering that it will have 110 loading and unloading docks.

Also read:

• Belgium and Luxembourg aim to double shared rail freight volumes
• North Sea Port maintains rail share despite persisting challenges
• ProRail and Infrabel to improve rail infrastructure at the North Sea Port
• CEF funding: here are the top projects for rail freight

More rail in the plans

The North Sea Port always retained its ambition of becoming a true multimodal hub in Western Europe. This ambition leads it to develop rail freight consistently with a vision to acquire as many train services as possible by improving infrastructure and acquiring new rail links.

One of the latest developments in this regard concerns the 3.4 million euro funding that the North Sea Port received from CEF to develop the direct rail link between Terneuzen (NL) and Ghent (BE). On top of this EU funding, the Dutch and Belgian governments have also pledged approximately 240 million euros for the construction of this rail link, according to the North Sea port.

However, there’s more than that since the cross-border port is simultaneously undertaking other equally important projects. For instance, the plans include a new border-crossing railway line east of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal between Zelzate (BE) and Axel (NL). Building a railway line east of the canal would relieve some pressure from the line on the west bank of the Canal as well as create additional capacity for more trains to run.

Moreover, the port aims to build a new railway arch east of the Sluiskil Bridge, a few kilometres south of Terneuzen. The bridge is expected to reach its maximum capacity by 2030, thus hindering the further growth of rail freight. Apart from ensuring enough capacity, the arch would also ensure that trains from the Axel Plain would be connected to the European network without deviating their route through Terneuzen.

The third and final project undertaken in the North Sea Port concerns establishing a rail connection at the Kluizendok in Zandeken, 20 kilometres north of Ghent. This new railway section would solve the problem of granting access to the Zandeken bundle to trains to and from the Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in the south of the Dutch region Zeeland.

Zeehaven, the port’s backbone

“With almost 60 tracks, the Ghent-Zeehaven marshalling yard is the logistical hub for the port. Freight trains arrive here, depart again, are assembled, and switch between electric and diesel locomotives when necessary”, stressed Infrabel.

The Belgian IM started implementing some upgrade projects in the marshalling yard in 2019. The marshalling yard consists of three track bundles-D, E, and G. The upgrade project focuses on bundle D, which has three tracks. The goal is to extend the two tracks to receive freight trains up to 750 metres long.

“At the end of May 2022, we will complete the tracks’ extension, and trains can start using them. These longer tracks have been high on the wish list of the port and our customers for some time”, said Infrabel. In addition, the IM has done more work in Zeehaven’s Bundle D. “We have installed 23 new switches, renovated the existing tracks and sleepers and modernised the signalling and overhead wires. The total investment in Bundle D amounts to 7,4 million euros”.

Industrial sidings equally important

As Infrabel stressed, its number one priority apart from a sustainable modal shift is to make its customers happy and assist them in using rail freight more. As a result, investments in Ghent also focus on facilitating access to and from industrial sites located inside the port. Specifically, works concern three companies-Disteel, a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, EOC (chemistry and latex products) and TWZ (tank cleaning).

In Wondelgelm, the industrial railway line L216 is currently undergoing a renovation that started last October and will finish this July. This line concerns Disteel, which receives a freight train with steel beams from Luxembourg every day. “These products are further processed and sent to large industrial customers and other construction contractors. This is not possible without this rail connection. So it is literally a lifeline”, explained Infrabel.

On the other hand, Infrabel renewed 4,3 kilometres of tracks, three switches and a level crossing on the industrial siding L217 in Evergem that serves companies EOC and TWZ.
“EOC receives one of the main ingredients to make latex only by rail. Without this rail connection, the company would find it difficult to carry out its activities. The same story goes for TWZ. This company is responsible for, among other things, the internal cleaning of rail cars. And, of course, you need a connection to the rail network for that”, said Infrabel.

Also read:

• Dutch fund allocates 105 million to cross-border rail in North Sea Port

The piggyback trains start in Can Tunis station in Barcelona, and travel 1,200 kilometres to the hub in Luxembourg. There are five trains per week, although both companies expect to increase this to six departures from April onwards.

Tunnel of Le Perthus

Trains will cross the tunnel of Le Perthus, on the border between Spain and France to connect with the French city of Le Boulou. Before the launch of this service, trains were bound to transfer to a different train or a track to enter the French railway network. Semitrailer services to Spain did not exist until now.

Renfe’s locomotives pull the wagons and lorries until Perpignan, where SNCF’s locomotives will continue until Bettembourg. Here, trucks will take the lorries to their final location. By combining train and truck, the companies comply with EU rules on driving time. Moreover, they have brought back labour costs.

Huge potential

The service transports semi-trailers and traditional cargo wagons, handling 1,500 tonnes per train. Renfe and Viia estimate that this service may take around 20 thousand lorries off the road per year, cutting 20 thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Viia offers several railway services in Europe, such as between Aiton (France) and Orbassano (Italy); but also between Le Boulou (France) and Luxembourg, to which the new service to Barcelona was linked. The rail freight company also connects Le Boulou and Calais, where trains are linked with the Viia-operated ferries to the UK.

Alternative to UK

These last two services connect Spain with Central Europe and the UK, both offering an interesting service for fresh vegetable and fruit supply, which may suffer a serious disruption in case of a no-deal Brexit.

The access of semitrailers on the Spanish market is considered a milestone for intermodal transport. As the city of Barcelona was linked to the French railway network, another service connecting to Antwerp was launched by intermodal operator Hupac.

Bettembourg-Ghent

In the meantime, the Belgian port of Ghent has established the missing rail freight link which connects the port to Bettembourg. “From 11 March 2019 onwards, trains with trailers and containers from customers throughout Spain, Southern France, Italy and Turkey will arrive at the DFDS terminal in Ghent”, the port authority said.

In Ghent, trailers can be transferred onto freight ferries for sea transport to Gothenburg in Sweden, thus connecting the European hinterland to the Scandinavian countries. Barcelona and Le Boulou are important hubs in this hinterland.

Also read:

• Port of Ghent now open for rail freight trains
• Milestone: first semitrailer to Spain by rail

“We will start with 5 connections per week”, says Sam de Wilde, Managing Director of DFDS Ferry Division in Ghent. Previously, freight between the hubs was transported by truck. “More and more customers were asking for a multimodal product, opting for rail rather than trucking” he added.

Multimodal network

With the new railway service, a missing link was established to the European hinterland on one side, and the Scandanavian countries on the other side, as the port offers eight freight ferry sailings per week to Gothenburg in Sweden. “From 11 March 2019 onwards, trains with trailers and containers from customers throughout Spain, Southern France, Italy and Turkey will arrive at the DFDS terminal in Ghent for sea transport to Sweden”, the port authority said.

“In any of these locations, existing as well as new customers will be able to transfer trailers and containers meant for Scandinavia onto rail wagons. The rail transport ends in the DFDS Terminal in Ghent, where the trailers will be directly transferred onto our freight ferry for sea transport to Gothenburg – and thus to our customers’ markets in Sweden, Norway and Finland”, said de Wilde.

Transshipment

Barcelona in Spain and Le Boulou and Lyon in France form important transshipment hubs where road and rail are linked. The same applies to Trieste, which is now more attractive due to the possibility to lift non-cranable trailers on a train.

“For the connection between Trieste and Gent, we have procured a lifting system which allows us to lift any type of trailers onto the trains, including the so-called ‘non – craneable trailers’. This makes things easier for our customers, as there is no need to plan for a specific craneable trailer to benefit from the rail connections”, said Nicola Lelli, head of Intermodal DFDS. From Trieste, a shipping connection is available to the Turkish terminals of Pendik, Ambarli and Mersin and the Greek terminal of Patras.

The North Sea Port witnesses a sharp increase in the volume of goods transshipment. In the first half of 2018 there was an increase of 11 per cent. This cannot be processed by rail transport in the long term due to bottlenecks on the Ghent-Terneuzen railway line.

Bottlenecks

The engineering firms Movares and TML have now investigated which bottlenecks exist in the current rail network for freight transport. This shows that in the Netherlands the eastern rail freight link between Ghent and Terneuzen is missing at Axel-Zelzate. Furthermore, the Sluiskilbrug will become a bottleneck around 2028: this bridge can no longer process the number of trains.

The study also shows that there is a capacity shortage in Flanders on the route section north of the Ghent borough Wondelgem. Moreover, various railway bundles have capacity bottlenecks on both sides of the border. In the next phase of the research, the technical feasibility and costs of various solutions will be investigated. The results of this follow-up study are expected in early 2019.

Improving railway

North Sea Port, the municipality of Terneuzen, the city of Ghent and the provinces of Zeeland and East Flanders, together with the Rail Ghent Terneuzen project, are working together to improve the rail network. This is aimed at the growth of the port, the strengthening of sustainability and the economy in the border region. A first phase of the study project has now been completed.

Belgium’s Flemish Government and regional port partners have launched a new campaign calling for new initiatives that will make the transport of goods – with rail identified as a key element – to and from the European hinterland more smooth and efficient.

A three-year feasibility study costing 1.3 million Euros will examine existing ‘bottlenecks’ and the level of investment required on track infrastructure and length on both the Dutch and Belgian sides. The EC funding has been secured from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and represents half of the total amount of the study’s cost.

‘Bottlenecks’

The CEF application was made earlier this year by Zeeland Seaports, the Port of Ghent, Terneuzen municipality and the Zeeland provincial executive, on behalf of a consortium of companies and government agencies committed to improving the rail infrastructure within and between the port areas of Terneuzen and Ghent. These stakeholders, along with the city of Ghent and the province of East Flanders, are contributing the remainder.

It was announced in June that a full merger between the neighbouring ports was a step closer following an exploratory study launched last November. Author McKinseys said there were ‘significant socio-economic benefits’ for the entire area of the two ports’ operations, and that a partnership had a host of benefits, including the potential to deliver increased added value in the region, create more employment and attract bigger investors.

‘Greatly enhance’

The Employees’ Organisation for Brabant and Zeeland (BZW Zeeland) followed up the report by saying rail freight access between the two port authorities was a major issue for the area’s infrastructure, and that a rail link between Terneuzen and Belgium’s Flanders region would ‘greatly enhance’ Zeeland’s business.

Zeeland Seaports says that as part of the joint rail strategy between the two port authorities, several rail bottlenecks in different locations have been catalogued, as well as the ‘missing link’ on the east side of the canal between the two port areas. This is seen as the biggest congestion point, while at Ghent-Seaport there is a need for longer tracks. Companies in the Ghent-Terneuzen region ‘are at a competitive disadvantage’ because of longer travel times and extra costs incurred. The outcome of the study, adds the port, will provide ‘an important tool’ for further investment decisions by public authorities.

Stakeholders

There is support across the board for the project, including from the Belgian government, the Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and the Environment, and the respective rail infrastructure managers for Belgium and The Netherlands, Infrabel and ProRail. Other cross-sector stakeholders backing the plans include manufacturers Outokumpu (steel), Vlaeynatie & Yara (agriculture), logistics provider Verbrugge, Dutch transport body KNV and the Flemish Department of Mobility and Public Works.

Zeeland Seaports says that the joint submission of the proposals and the securing of a significant subsidy has suggested that a merger between the two areas and authorities has ‘real potential’ at European level. Shareholders and staff will have their say on the merger before it goes ahead, which is likely to be before the end of this year.

A merger between the Port of Ghent and Zeeland Seaports, which are seeking to establish a dedicated cross-border rail freight link, is a step closer following an exploratory study. Shareholders and staff will now have the final say on a deal expected to go through by the end of the year. 

Plans for the merger, which would cover the two port authorities from Ghent in Belgium to Terneuzen & Vlissingen in The Netherlands, were positively received by stakeholders when first announced last November. Both parties have now concluded after talks that a merger is possible on an equal basis, and that solutions are available for all key issues such as strategy, governance, legal and financial.

Cross-border rail freight

Both are already working on establishing a cross-border rail freight link, and together with Port and Industry Zeeland (PORTIZ), Terneuzen City and Province of Zeeland, are waiting to hear whether they have been successful in obtaining a grant from the Connecting Europe Fund for a rail freight link in the canal between Ghent and Terneuzen. The Employees’ Organisation for Brabant and Zeeland (BZW Zealand) says rail freight access between the two port authorities is a major issue for the area’s infrastructure, and that a rail link between Terneuzen and Belgium’s Flanders region would ‘grealy enhance’ Zeeland’s business competitiveness.

In a study, BZW says the increased traffic resulting from the proposed merger – potentially more than 15 per cent – together with the Seine-Scheldt waterways project and a new lock at Terneuzen, means an optimal cross-border rail infrastructure is ‘increasingly urgent’.

Economic potential

“Since all the parties below have high ambitions to increase the share of rail in their modal split to make this sustainable mode of transport more attractive and contribute to one single EU rail freight market, an optimal cross border rail infrastructure is essential in a sustainable solution to fully exploit the economic potential of this region,” it says.

There is also support for the project from Infrabel and ProRail, the national rail infrastructure managers of Belgium and The Netherlands respectively, along with the Flemish Department of Mobility and Works. Research by McKinsey has demonstrated significant socio-economic benefits of a merger for the entire area of operations of the two port authorities. The partnership has the potential to deliver increased added value in the region, more employment, better utilisation of the port infrastructure, enhanced opportunities for innovation, the ability to attract bigger investors, better service provision to firms and increased brand awareness.

New dynamic

Jan Lagasse, CEO of Zeeland Seaports, said: “An intensive cooperation only provides benefits, benefits for existing and new businesses that will find a strong partner to support them, benefits for these regions that will belong to the top of Europe with a combined port, and benefits for both port companies and their employees, with greater critical mass. This will undoubtedly create a new dynamic in the Flemish-Dutch delta.”

It is proposed that the cross-border merged port should take the form of a European company as a holding company for the two existing port authorities, and that all three entities would have unitary governance and management.