Electric cranes boost eco German terminal

Helping to make operations more efficient and sustainable and cut pollution by taking trucks off the road, the rail terminal now has 10 tracks which are all able to process trains up to 740m long. The two new electric cranes are designed by Kocks Ardelt Kranbau in close cooperation with HHLA.

CTB managing director Andreas Hollmann said: “We have expanded our rail terminal once more to provide our customers with more than just extra capacity. The four rail gantry cranes, which work independently of one another, enable more flexible processing and faster reaction times for rail throughput.”

Capacity increase

The second of the new cranes went into operation on 18 January. It is the fourth crane operating on the terminal in total and the final component of the rail terminal expansion.

The expansion increases the rail terminal’s capacity by approx. 200,000 teu to around 850,000 teu per year.

Since 2010, annual rail throughput at CTB has grown by almost 50%. Simultaneously, the share of rail transport in the total container volume at the Port of Hamburg increased markedly between 2010 and 2017 from 36.5% to 42.8%.

The expansion of rail transport capacities at CTB could increase rail’s share in the diverse range of carriers even further in the medium term, explained HHLA executive board member Jens Hansen: “The numerous high-frequency rail connections give the Port of Hamburg a clear advantage against other European ports. We believe rail connections will increase considerably from 2020 through the improved transport connections of CTB. And we are already perfectly prepared for this.”