90 per cent more handling capacity at ÖBB freight terminal Wolfurt
“As a container gate into the world and a central transhipment point, the extended and modernized container terminal in Wolfurt is the most important freight transport hub in Western Austria and thus the linchpin for the transfer of goods traffic from road to rail. The capacity of container parking spaces has been quadrupled by the expansion. The ÖBB is thus an important partner for the state of Vorarlberg and the local economy,” said ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä at the official opening ceremony on 19 October.
Due to the expansion of the ÖBB freight center Wolfurt, the capacities were more than doubled. Currently, up to 800 containers leave the freight center every day, and just as many are coming in. Despite limited building operations, almost 64,000 containers were moved in 2017 on the railway side (31,500 containers to Wolfurt, 32,200 in outgoing traffic).
The Wolfurt ÖBB freight center offers 1,700 full container storage bays in the immediate crane area and 3,500 empty container bays in the northern area of the terminal. Before the expansion there was a total of 1,300 containers, so only a quarter of the current number of parking spaces. The terminal area has been expanded from previously 72,000 m² by around 50% to 106,000 m².
State governor Markus Wallner sees this as a milestone for Western Austria: “The expansion of the freight yard in Wolfurt is one of the key infrastructure projects for Vorarlberg of the recent decades. The local economy is very export-oriented and many large and well-known companies in the country rely on the services provided by Deutsche Bahn and the expansion of the Wolfurt freight terminal.” The BMVIT invested just over EUR 60 million in the project via the BMVIT framework. In addition, 50% of the planning was funded by the European Union.
At the heart of the facility there are the four, up to 750-meter-long container tracks, which are each reached on 600 meters from the two huge container cranes of the latest design “Made in Vorarlberg”. The cranes, which are more than 20 meters high and weigh around 350 tonnes, practically hover over the tracks. If one of the two cranes picks up a container, the technology supports the entire lifting process.
To make room for the container cars, four new spur tracks with a length of around 1,200 meters were built. This way, the cars can be parked in the immediate vicinity of the loading point and, if necessary, can be used without complicated feeding from other stations. In total, the potential capacity for container handling at the terminal was increased from 100,000 to around 190,000 transport units per year.
In December 2014 work started on the expansion of the ÖBB freight terminal Wolfurt. Ever-increasing demand and changing market needs have made enlargement inevitable. In 2015 alone, more goods were handled in Wolfurt every month than in the early days of the system over the course of a whole year. The realization of the large-scale project took place during ongoing operation in three major construction phases.
Figures, data, facts about the new ÖBB freight terminal Wolfurt
- · Start of construction December 2014
- · Three construction phases, which were implemented on the construction sites North, Middle and South
- · Construction completion October 2018
- · Four up to 750 meter long container loading tracks
- · Storage space for 1,700 containers in the immediate crane area
- · Four railway sidings with a total length of 1,200 meters for container cars
- · Empty container warehouse for 3,500 container units
- · Own area for wagonload traffic – effective track length 500 meters
- · Investment volume according to the framework plan just over 60 million euros