Innovative rail transport between Hamburg and Austria

Innovative rail transport between Hamburg and Austria

The voestalpine Steel Division imports coal and ore via the Port of Hamburg. A novel concept developed by ILG Innovative Logistics Group on behalf of Logistik Service GmbH (LogServ) allows 20-foot containers to be loaded into bulk wagons for export. The containers are loaded with steel products, e.g. coils and heavy plates, destined for China or South Africa. A total of 68 containers are transported by this rail service that runs once a week between Linz and Hamburg.

After unloading the steel products at the EUROKOMBI terminal, the train is then re-loaded with ore for voestalpine’s Steel Division at the bulk cargo terminal HANSAPORT, which has its own rail terminal with 15 tracks for handling block train traffic. Not only is the port of Hamburg Europe’s largest railway port with excellent infrastructure, but its handling quality is outstanding.

This innovative and sustainable solution of transporting containers in bulk wagons generates synergy effects and prevents empty runs.

Christian Janecek, Managing Director of Logistik Service GmbH: “This transport serves several objectives: environmentally friendly and cost-effective transport by rail, high efficiency thanks to scheduled container handling with the seaport and, last but not least, risk spreading along the voestalpine supply chain.“

“Since the beginning of containerization, the port of Hamburg has been the most important partner in container handling for the Austrian economy. We are extremely pleased that voestalpine is keeping this tradition alive by handling its import and export via the port of Hamburg since 2019. ILG’s innovative concept has proven its value by saving resources: it uses already existing transport capacities,” states Alexander Till, Head of the Port of Hamburg Representative Office in Vienna.