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Enhancing Trans-Alpine freight: Cargobeamer to build new terminal in northern Italy for combined transport

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2021/06/09 at 2:10 PM

Cargobeamer, the Leipzig-based logistics provider, is planning to construct a new terminal at the Domodossola station in northern Italy. It will be dedicated to handling combined transport running through the Alps. The logistics company will launch the new facility in mid-2022.

This June will be a remarkable month for Cargobeamer as it will open its first terminal for combined transport. The facility will be located in the French port city of Calais. Meanwhile, the German logistics provider is not going to stop and has already scheduled the construction of two other terminals: in Domodossola, Italy, and Kaldenkirchen, Germany.

“Construction for both projects is estimated to start by late 2021 with opening scheduled for mid-to-late 2022. From 2022 onwards, we are planning to add one or two terminals to our network in new locations every year,” Tim Krause, Communications & Marketing Manager at Cargobeamer, comments to IntermodalNews.eu. Therefore, I asks him to unveil more details about the Italian terminal as it is vital for the Trans-Alpine freight traffic.

Convenient location

Cargobeamer chose the location for the planned terminal due to several reasons. First of all, there is a great interest of the customers in the piggyback connections running through the Alps. “The region of northern Italy is very strong in terms of economic power and we feel a lot of interest from freight forwarders and logistics companies to use our services,” Tim Krause explains.

Cargobeamer will construct a new terminal for combined transport in Domodossola, Italy, source: Cargobeamer

At the same time, the German company has been operating the combined transport between Kaldenkirchen and the Domo2 railyard in Domodosolla since 2015. “Therefore, we know the location and maintain good relations to local customers,” Tim Krause adds. According to him, this project will be very similar to the Calais facility and will be constructed almost from the ground.

However, there will be some difference. “The site in Calais was a greenfield project, which means that we could not rely on any given infrastructure and needed to concrete the area as well as adding the rail connection ourselves. In Domodossola we can build on top of existing structures which should save time and costs in the construction process,” the Cargobeamer’s manager specifies.

Longer tracks and unique equipment

The existing infrastructure of the Domo2 railyard includes three 250-metre-long tracks. Cargobeamer will extend them up to around 400 metres due to the technical specification of the company’s equipment for loading semi-trailers on wagons. Currently, the company is examining two options in this regards: to completely remove the existing tracks and then to lay down the new ones or to upgrade them where it is necessary and to add the missing sections.

Cargobeamer shifting technology for loading semi-trailers onto wagons, source: Cargobeamer

Besides the mentioned issue, the German logistics provider will equip the new terminal with its unique shifting technology for moving semi-trailers on and out of the piggyback trains. “A CargoBeamer terminal mainly consists of so-called “Double-GateModules” which execute the shifting of semi-trailers from and onto the train. It is an underground technical infrastructure to shift the semi-trailers mechanically from the train, either onto a waiting truck or to store them in a parking lane,” Tim Krause says in detail. Moreover, the Domodossola terminal will consist of special lanes on both sides of the tracks for loading and unloading vehicles, parking areas when the semi-trailers stand by, a small administrative building and a couple of terminal vehicles responsible for shunting the semi-trailers.

Deadlines and money

As for the time frame of the project, Cargobeamer intends to start the construction works by the end of 2021. Earlier, the area will be cleaned and prepared for the construction works. “If everything works out as planned, we will be able to open the terminal in Domodossola by the second half of 2022,” the company’s manager notes.

In terms of money, such a project requires around 30 million euros. However, this amount is very approximate and could be verified after all the project details will be adjusted. “A similar amount was necessary to build our terminal in Calais, France. The costs needed for the Domodossola facility might be somewhat lower due to existing infrastructure,” Tim Krause sums up.

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