Baltic Rail Gate in Lübeck to be Significantly Expanded

The Lübeck Port Company (LHG) is significantly expanding the intermodal terminal of Baltic Rail Gate (BRG) at the Scandinavia Quay. By late summer 2024, the capacity will be substantially increased. The federal government is funding the investment project by 80 percent.

(Lübeck) “This will eliminate the capacity bottlenecks that have repeatedly occurred at BRG during peak times,” explains LHG Managing Director Sebastian Jürgens, “and we are securing our future in combined transport. The way is now clear for new traffic.” The maximum handling capacity currently stands at 140,000 loading units per year. “After the expansion, we will be able to significantly increase the handling capacity here to 240,000 units,” announces Jürgens.

BRG already operates a significant intermodal terminal for sustainable transport in the Baltic Sea region. Linked with approximately 90 weekly sea-based RoRo departures at LHG’s terminals, it forms an important link between the industrial centers of Southern and Western Europe and the Nordic countries. “With the capacity expansion, we can significantly strengthen Lübeck’s competitiveness as a hub for transport by rail, road, and waterway. The demand in the market is there,” says Antje Falk, Managing Director of Baltic RailGate.

Funding from the Federal Ministry of Transport

The Federal Ministry of Transport agrees: it supports and promotes the shift of freight transport from road to environmentally friendly transport modes such as rail and waterways. To this end, the ministry has issued a corresponding guideline. Under this guideline, the Federal Railway Authority is funding the expansion of the facility with nearly 80 percent from public funds. Currently, the facility has six tracks, each 600 meters long, and two cranes. “With the expansion, we will extend all tracks to 720 meters of usable track length,” announces Christoph Adam, Head of Facilities and Equipment at LHG. “This will adapt the terminal to the standard train lengths in Europe and allow us to avoid time-consuming shunting operations.”

The construction plan also includes a third crane and a new operational building. The crane runways and the cable drums for the power supply of the two existing cranes will also be extended, allowing them to handle the entire track lengths in the future. For the maneuvering of trailers on the handling area, LHG is acquiring three new electric tractors, known as tugmasters. “In addition, we are already preparing everything to transition from semi-automatic to fully automatic crane operations in the future,” announces Adam.

Majority of Work to be Completed by Late Summer 2024

The first track and civil engineering work is expected to begin in late summer this year. They will not significantly restrict ongoing operations. The majority of the expansion and new construction work is expected to be completed by late summer 2024.

Photo: © Olaf Malzahn