Combined Transport Connects MegaHub in Hannover Lehrte to the Network

The new MegaHub terminal in Lehrte near Hannover is set to be connected to the national and international transport network by Kombiverkehr KG in April 2021. The connected terminals will create new continuous rail routings and link the Hannover economic region to the European network.

(Frankfurt/Main/Lehrte) Kombiverkehr KG, one of Europe’s leading operators in intermodal rail freight transport, plans to integrate the newly built MegaHub terminal in Hannover Lehrte into national and international networks next spring. After extensive preparations, the Frankfurt-based company is now announcing the planned start of the first Kombiverkehr trains via the MegaHub for April 2021. The connection of the now defined terminals and the future connection of additional container terminals will make the unique advantage of the facility – the rapid transfer of loading units between trains in a particularly short time – visible and enable customers from freight forwarding and logistics to book new continuous routings. Starting in April 2021, the terminals in Ludwigshafen, Lübeck, Kiel, Hamburg, Munich, and Duisburg on the German side, as well as Malmö on the Swedish side, will be connected to the terminal in Hannover-Lehrte. Kombiverkehr KG will thus enable daily transfers between rail and rail for all users of the facility for the first time, after the terminal operation initially began in the first operational phase with transfers between road and rail and in the second phase with rail-rail transfers on weekends.

Modern and Innovative Quick Transfer Facility

The modern and innovative quick transfer facility will serve as a hub for semi-trailers, swap bodies, and containers between incoming and outgoing trains. The trains are expected to arrive in Hannover with loading units in a colorful mix for several target terminals. After immediate sorting, the outgoing trains will then leave the terminal directly, meaning only with loading units for a single target terminal, from which further terminals can also be reached in gateway traffic in international transport. With the concept of the quick transfer facility, new connections will be possible in the Kombiverkehr network that were not previously included in the service offering. One example is the connection between Duisburg and Malmö.

New Connections

The Hannover economic region, which Kombiverkehr has previously connected to Verona via a direct train connection, is set to receive a national and expanded international connection with the conversion of traffic. Loading units from the region around Hannover, delivered via the truck gate by road, can be booked for all trains included in the schedule. This means that Hannover is not only directly connected to the existing target terminals but also, in gateway traffic, to numerous terminals in Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, various Balkan states, Turkey, and the Scandinavian countries.

Unique Facility for Europe

The quick transfer facility MegaHub Lehrte, in which Kombiverkehr KG holds a 16.67 percent stake alongside the German Transshipment Company Rail-Road (DUSS), started operations with the transshipment between trucks and trains in June 2020 after approximately two years of construction. Since the groundbreaking in May 2018, six transshipment tracks, each about 700 meters long, and three portal cranes have been built on the approximately 120,000 square meter site of the former marshalling yard in Lehrte. “With the planned start of our trains next year, we are fulfilling our promise to actively utilize the technologically advanced MegaHub facility, which is unique in Europe, for the further development of intermodal transport from the very beginning. We are getting closer to the goal of offering locations with efficient intermodal trains that currently do not have full train capacities through the connection with the MegaHub,” says Armin Riedl, Managing Director of Kombiverkehr KG.
Photo: © Kombiverkehr
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