Ideal conditions for intermodal: Hupac getting closer to launching first terminal in Poland
Swiss intermodal operator Hupac completed the construction of its first facility in Poland, which is located in Brwinów, close to Warsaw. The company is undergoing the final preparations before the official launch of the terminal, which is scheduled for 7 September 2022. Diana Batko, managing director of Hupac Terminal Brwinów, has disclosed some details about the construction works and the future of the reloading complex.
More than a year ago, Hupac announced the beginning of the construction project of its first intermodal terminal in Poland. To this end, the Swiss company chose a site near Warsaw, more precisely in Brwinów, 25 kilometres from the Polish capital. As Diana Batko, managing director of Hupac Terminal Brwinów, argues that this Polish town was chosen for the construction of the terminal due to many factors, first of all, due to road and rail connection availability as well as the availability of land. “In Brwinów we found ideal conditions,” she adds.
From nothing to everything
To build a new facility, Hupac chose a plot of 14 hectares. The investment project includes the construction of four 800-metre-long tracks for transhipping, service tracks, road lanes, an office building, a technical building for crane storage and a workshop. “There was nothing before. But we built everything necessary for intermodal operations,” the managing director of Hupac Terminal Brwinów explains.
Future plans
Initially, Hupac will tranship up to 180,000 intermodal units annually at the Brwinów terminal. This means that the facility will handle four-five trains per day. “In a second phase, more transhipment tracks, as well as gantry cranes will be added, achieving a doubling of the volumes,” Diana Batko specifies.
As for the container traffic to be handled in Brwinów, the geography of Hupac’s network has predetermined it. Currently, most of the company’s intermodal connections in Poland are run via Warsaw to/from the Western European hubs. “Therefore, the main container traffic at our terminal will be generated in the east-west direction connecting Antwerp, Zeebrugge and Duisburg,” Hupac’s manager highlights.