Port of Hamburg moves more cargo by rail and is well equipped for further growth

In Germany’s largest universal Port of Hamburg more than 135 million tons of seaborne cargo traffic are cleared annually. A major share of this freight reaches or leaves the port by rail. If you look at the shares of various modes of transport on the overland seaport-hinterland routes, then rail is in pole position in Hamburg with 48.2 percent, ahead of trucking with 41.4 percent and inland waterway with 10.2 percent. 

In the first quarter of 2019, a total of 12.5 million tons of freight were transported by rail between the Port of Hamburg and destinations within Germany and Europe. This means an increase of 7.7 percent. 

The growth in container traffic was markedly higher. Here, in the first quarter of 2019, a total of 690,000 TEU - twenty-foot standard containers were transported by rail. This is a substantial increase of 13.6 percent on the first quarter of 2018. This growth in transport by rail is mainly due to the four new Trans-Atlantic liner services connecting Hamburg with the USA, Canada and Mexico, and new container block-train services. 

“The Port of Hamburg is Europe’s leading rail port. Against the backdrop of overloaded roads and the desire for the most environment-friendly freight transport possible, in the coming years, rail will gain in importance in seaport-hinterland transport. To be well prepared for growth in freight quantities, it is not enough for the ports alone to invest in developing and modernizing, as well as in digitalizing its infrastructure. Both the rail network and the inland handling terminals have to have both their performance and capacity upgraded for the additional freight volumes,” states Axel Mattern, Joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing - HHM. In his opinion, only with the full cooperation of all players in the transport chain will achievement of better utilization of existing capacity be feasible.  

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