Metrans plans to launch new intermodal link between Poland and Czechia
Czech rail freight operator Metrans is continuing to develop its intermodal network in Central Eastern Europe. The company has scheduled the launch of a new container train between Poland and Czechia for early September of 2022. It will link the Port of Gdańsk, the Polish largest harbour, with Ostrava, the Czech third-largest city and a major industrial centre.
Metrans is planning to inaugurate the new Poland-Czechia intermodal connection on 5 September 2022 when the first train will depart for the Ostrava terminal towards the DCT Gdańsk container terminal in the Port of Gdańsk. Currently, the company’s facility handles only one freight train six times a week, to Česká Třebová, that runs inside Czechia. On their way between Gdańsk and Ostrava, the trains will make a short stopover at Metrans Dabrowa Gornicza container terminal.
According to the Czech company, the new service will have an increased carrying capacity compared to others. The 750-metre-long trains (instead of 650 metres as usual) will run on the Gdańsk-Ostrava route, and they will be able to move 112 TEU per one shipment. Initially, Metrans will provide the new connection three times per week in each direction. If it becomes popular, the frequency will increase.
“This new service will complement our already existing connections with European ports, and will also offer and open another major transport corridor. This aspect is especially important in today’s difficult times when the term “congestion” accompanies us every step of the way. The extension and diversification of transport routes will certainly be a suitable tool and will help cope with the current difficult period of disrupted supply chains. Our Ostrava container terminal will thus become a gateway to the entire Metrans intermodal network, but also, imaginarily, a gateway to the entire CEE area. Our integrated transport network will enable the efficient transportation of full containers throughout Central Europe, as well as offer logistics solutions for the transportation of empty containers and enable the optimisation of the flow of containers destined for storage and their exchange between different regions,” the Czech rail freight operator stated.