Emilianowo as a gateway to Polish ports
Emilianowo has a very good connection with Gdynia and Gdańsk, and thanks to the railway line 207 also with Elbląg. Moreover, through the line 18 with the Szczecin-Świnoujście port complex, points Paweł Bukowski, CEO of the Bydgoszcz Emilianowo Intermodal Terminal.
The Bydgoszcz Emilianowo Intermodal Terminal is an investment to be built under the National Reconstruction Program (KPO). The parties to the agreement in the construction of the terminal are the governor of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland’s national railway holding PKP S.A., gmina Nowa Wieś Wielka, Port of Gdynia Authority, Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park, the National Support Centre for Agriculture and PKP Cargo.
When is the construction of the intermodal terminal planned to start in Emilianowo near Bydgoszcz?
The KPO was sent to the European Commission on 30 April of this year. Minister Waldemar Buda says that its approval is a matter of days. When this happens, the funds will probably be awarded in a competition, which we will start as an investment in the construction of the terminal. It will probably be 2023. The construction of the terminal will be phased.
At the moment, preparatory works are underway, a functional and operational programme is prepared, we have a project information sheet (KIP) for the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection, which on the basis of our application will determine what we must do to obtain environmental approvals. We should have them in order to enter the planned competition. I think that after receiving the funds for the construction of the terminal, we will complete the investment within three years, by 2026.
What if you fail to get funding?
It is not that we will focus only on KPO because it is a recovery plan after COVID-19. There are also other paths, such as the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment (FEnIKS) – the successor of the Infrastructure and Environment Program (POIiŚ), or RPO (Regional Operational Programmes). It is worth noting an important thing – the Emilianowo terminal was included in a government document, or rather in the EU, because it is a requirement of the European Commission regarding the intermodal development strategy “Directions for the development of intermodal transport until 2030 with a perspective until 2040”. Thanks to this, we are in line with the EU strategy, and this, in turn, is a condition for the KPO. The Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy talks about large funds from the National Reconstruction Program for the development of the point intermodal infrastructure. This is under strong pressure from both our government and the European Commission, so we are hopeful.
The construction of a storage and reloading terminal in Emilianowo near Bydgoszcz is the first element of a larger infrastructure, the so-called Bydgoszcz multimodal junction. It is to enable more efficient transport of goods between the Tri-City ports and the south of the country. The plan to build a freight terminal in Emilianowo assumes that the so-called dry port will be based on the rail-road platform near the junction of the railway line connecting the Tri-City with Silesia, the S10 expressway, the Bydgoszcz Airport, and the river port on the Vistula River.
In accordance with the prepared concept of the S10 expressway, a two-level junction is to be built in Emilianowo, allowing access to the Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park and the intermodal port.
That’s true. I have confirmation from the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) about a planned direct junction at the Emilianowo station itself. To the south, the junction will lead to Emilianowo, and to the north – to the Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park.
What area is to be occupied by the intermodal terminal in Emilianowo?
On the one hand, the question seems simple – we are building a terminal, then we should know what area it will occupy. But at this point, as I mentioned, a functional and utility programme (PFU) is being developed. 5.7 hectares is an area that we have to purchase from the state forests, but this is not the entire terminal, because the terminal will be built partly at the railway station, at junctions that already exist. Partially, from the eastern side, it must enter the state forests through a narrow belt. Detailed data will be determined by the PFU, which will be completed at the end of October, then we will be sure.
What ideas about managing the terminal? What technologies will be used?
Originally, we plan that it will be a two-track terminal, with the use of reach stackers, although we are also thinking about overhead cranes. We do not want to close a certain path, because it may turn out that in a year or two the demand will be so great that it will have to be done on overhead cranes. We calculate the reloading capacity at 80,000 TEU per year. It is important that we, as a company, will announce an operator selection procedure after the terminal is built. Because the assumption is that the terminal in Emilianowo will be an open terminal for all intermodal operators.