Port of Kiel with Hinterland Connection from Verona

In environmentally friendly rail freight transport, the Port of Kiel is gaining additional capacities and faster connections. Since the beginning of September, five new train pairs have been operating weekly from Kiel in Alpine transit to Verona in Northern Italy via the MegaHub Lehrte. The rapid transshipment facility in Lehrte also connects to the destinations of Duisburg, Munich, and Ludwigshafen.

(Kiel) On the occasion of the first train departure from Schwedenkai, Dr. Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the PORT OF KIEL, said: “The new connection via Hannover Lehrte now gives us the capacity needed for an even stronger shift of hinterland traffic from road to rail.”

The trains are operated by Kombiverkehr KG, Frankfurt, whose Sales Manager Peter Dannewitz explained: “The MegaHub Lehrte allows us to expand both the connections between Italy and the Baltic Sea region and to offer additional national transfer options to and from Kiel. There is great potential with the PORT OF KIEL for further expansion of efficient rail connections.” A new feature in Kiel is that trains to and from Italy – just like the existing KV shuttle to and from Hamburg – now directly connect both Schwedenkai and the East Side Port, thus providing immediate transshipment options to the Baltic States and the southern and eastern coasts of Sweden.

Permitted Train Length of 540 Meters

The five additional train pairs have a permitted length of 540 m for Alpine transit over the Brenner and each consist of 20 wagons for the transport of 20 trailers and 20 containers up to 30 feet. The trains leave Kiel each evening, allowing cargo units to transfer in Lehrte during the night to further destinations. In the opposite direction, containers and trailers from various routes and the economic area of Hannover/Braunschweig are loaded in Lehrte and then shipped via Kiel to Norway, Sweden, and the Baltic States. The shipping companies Stena Line (to Gothenburg), Color Line (to Oslo), and DFDS (to Klaipeda) offer daily departures in ferry traffic from Kiel. Additionally, there are two weekly round trips with SCA Logistics to the southern and eastern coasts of Sweden (to Malmö and Sundsvall as well as to Umea or Iggesund).

Growing Number of Unaccompanied Cargo Units

The Port of Kiel is registering a steadily growing number of unaccompanied cargo units being loaded onto ferries. With the connection via Lehrte, the pre- and post-haulage can now be carried out to an even greater extent by rail, making it more sustainable. Compared to transport via highways, rail freight transport reduces the emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) in the port pre- and post-haulage by an average of 57 grams per ton-kilometer. On the route Kiel – Verona, this saves approximately 1.4 tons of CO2 per cargo unit with a loading weight of 20 tons. Dirk Claus: “The shift of traffic to rail is a declared goal of our Blue Port strategy and supports the efforts of the shipping economy for greater sustainability in transport. With the new trains, up to 28,000 tons of CO2 can be saved annually.”

Connected to the European Network of Kombiverkehr

In combined cargo transport, Kiel is already connected to the national and European network of Kombiverkehr via the daily KV shuttle through Hamburg-Billwerder. Additionally, there are three direct departures per week in each direction to and from Bettembourg in Luxembourg. On the route to and from Italy, there are now a total of six weekly connections available, five of which go via Hannover Lehrte. Annually, more than 100,000 unaccompanied trailers and containers are handled at the Port of Kiel. About one third of this is already transported by rail in the hinterland traffic. The connection via the MegaHub Lehrte creates capacities for the environmentally friendly transport of an additional 20,000 freight units.

Photo: © Port of Kiel / Image Caption: Combined train loading in the Kiel East Side Port