The Gothenburg Port Authority and APM Terminals Gothenburg introduced the ”Port of Gothenburg RAILPORT container storage initiative” earlier in September aiming to move the intermediate storage of import boxes from the port to inland terminals closer to the final destination of the goods all over Sweden.
“If an import container from China has Eskilstuna as its final destination, for example, it’s an advantage if intermediate storage also takes place at the inland terminal in Eskilstuna. The owner of the products then has better accessibility to the goods when the time comes to collect them,” explains the port authority.
The port’s rail network, Railport Scandinavia, now has more than 30 inland terminals at locations all over Sweden. There is also an increase in the proportion of rail transport operations at the port – more than 60% of the container goods that pass the quayside now take the train into or out of the port on the land side.
“The inland terminals have everything needed in terms of space, equipment, security and know-how to handle and warehouse container goods. The logic of this is crystal clear, and we’ve had a really good response from the market, now that we’ve further developed this concept together,” commented Claes Sundmark, vice president of sales and marketing at the Gothenburg Port Authority.
“Rail transport operations are reliable, efficient and environment-friendly, and the system has high capacity. The railway has also grown to become even stronger as a land-based transport option in recent times, partly due to increased diesel prices and the current shortage of truck drivers,” added Sundmark.
Port of Gothenburg said that the background to the project is the continued strain on the logistics chain due to a number of external factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and wa in Ukraine.
