European transport to cumulate in Verona
The Interporto Quadrante Europa has great plans in the pipeline. It is set to invest EUR 59 million in its railway infrastructure that will bring new tracks, more trains and a position as one of the continent’s leading terminals. The facility is already very well developed today; Freja joined its customers in October with the launch of a new service between Kiel and Verona.
Interporto Quadrante Europa is the poetic name of one of Italy’s largest freight villages. Southwest of the city of Verona there are intersections of both the north – south and the east – west motorways, as well as of railway lines. This rather advantageous traffic location enables the Interporto Quadrante Europa to handle a total of approximately 28 million t of goods. Approximately 8 million t thereof are handled by the railways today, with the remainder being hauled by road.
Brenner tunnel to bring more traffic
One of the objectives of the exercise is to massively boost the railway’s share of activities there. The state-owned rail infrastructure operator RFI and Consorzio Zai, which operates the freight village, have announced that the village’s train-handling capacities are set to be increased.
The project includes the construction of a new compound with five 750 m railtracks, gantry cranes and warehousing. Interporto Quadrante Europa’s overarching aim with this measure is to increase its capacities, to put it in a position to be able to manage the expected growth of railfreight activities. In particular, operators expect the volume of goods traffic to increase once the Brenner base tunnel is completed and the high-speed rail network is extended to the east of Italy.
On top of this there are the EU’s goals, which call for 30% of all goods transport that covers more than 300 km to be handled by the railways by the year 2030. The share has to rise to 50% by 2050.
Total investment in this project, including modernising the operational railway station, come to around EUR 59 million. The EU is contributing some of its financial support.
The undertaking is due to be completed by 2026. “When the Brenner base tunnel starts operations in 2028, the Italian transport system must seize the opportunities that will arise,” RFI director general Maurizio Gentile underlined. Matteo Gasparato, chairman of the Consorzio Zai, emphasised the pro-active approach to the expansion of the Interporto Quadrante Europa. “Regional, national and continental infrastructure plans are our yardstick. Verona is ready to take a leading role amongst European terminals.”
From Oslo all the way to Verona
Since mid-October this year a new train service operated by Freja has been one of the roughly 16,000 trains that shuttle to and from the Interporto Quadrante Europa annually. The Danish logistician established this new service between Oslo and Verona in collaboration with Color Line Cargo. The new vessel Color Carrier sails from Oslo to Kiel once a week. The consignments are transferred to a railfreight train in the German North Sea port. The train has the capacity to carry 30 trailers. Basically, it is open to anyone to use, but by and large, Freja makes use of most of the capacity itself.
The train departs from Kiel on Sunday afternoon, it reaches Verona early on Tuesday morning. Besides the advantages of protecting the environment, the train’s capacities are also a motivating factor for Freja. One trailer can carry 29 t on the railways, compared with 24.5 t on a lorry. On top of this there are the well-know Sunday driving bans, as well as other restrictions in play.
The link is suitable for all goods, with car parts offering a great potential; Volkswagen has a large compound in the Interporto Quadrante Europa.
