10 years of combined transport terminal in Lovosice (CZ)
The intermodal terminal in the Czech town of Lovosice has completed its tenth year of operations successfully. The container terminal, which is run by ČD-DUSS Terminál, a.s., was set up in 2007 to shift freight transport from congested roads between Dresden and the industrial region of north-western Bohemia to the railway. Today, the container terminal is far more than a hub between East and West.
“Between 1994 and 2004, a rolling highway was operated from Dresden to Lovosice,” explains the terminal’s manager, Jaromir Cabalka. “After the transport of trucks on freight wagons was ended, it became clear that the terminal has great potential for combined-transport.”
Two years later, in 2006, building work began on the combined-transport terminal. It started operating in 2007 under the leadership of ČD-DUSS Terminál. The terminal’s shareholders are the Czech rail operator ČD Cargo and DB.
Recently, 15,700 freight wagons were handled and 43,000 TEU transhipped per year at the Lovosice combined-transport terminal. Specialised business, in particular, is growing. “In the handling of modified trailers and swap bodies, we are the largest operator in the Czech Republic,” Cabalka says.
The terminal is connected to Western, Central and Eastern Europe and has recorded growing interest from freight forwarders since it started operating. “The number of truck transport operations in Central, Western and Eastern Europe is constantly growing. Transhipment onto the railways is increasingly becoming an attractive alternative to the flow of goods by road,” Cabalka notes.
Moreover, the terminal operators also provide numerous services for freight forwarders, logistics companies and final customers. These include trucking services for pre- and post-carriages, customs formalities and the repair and cleaning of transport units. Jaromir Cabalka adds: “We also offer the reloading and storage of freight and containers, as well as the unloading of freight from shipment units in a temporary customs warehouse, including the securing of the customs debt.”
www.cdduss.com; www.dbcargo.com