Antwerp as a multimodal freight village
The Belgian chemical industry federation Essenscia and railfreight operator Lineas recently presented the findings of their less-than-wagon-load research project to promote the shift of cargo to the railways.The study looked at developing the Antwerp main hub into a true multimodal freight village specifically designed to serve the port of Antwerp's chemical cluster.The new concept features added-value rail services, such as cross-docking pallet warehouses, repair and picking services, advanced cleaning services for chemical wagons, trucks and tank containers, and improved rail connections that combine both conventional and intermodal volumes. These specialised services can remove barriers and reduce the cost of railfreight, Essenscia and Lineas said. (ben)