ÖBB Infra opens container repair facility in St. Michael, Styria
At the St. Michael site, the existing cargo terminal being expanded gradually into a modern transhipment center for the Upper Styrian industry. This is a response to the growing demand of the shippers in the region, including the companies of Innofreight, voestalpine, Knauf, Sappi, Zellstoff Pöls and Wenzel Logistics. Franz Seiser, CEO ÖBB Infrastruktur: “We create the conditions for a combined transport hub in the region.”
In order to cope with the increasing number of container repairs, they opened a new container repair facility with a floor space of 560 m². This includes three container repair stands and the required workshop equipment (hall cranes, turning and lifting equipment), as well as a 150 m² covered warehouse to protect material and spare parts. A fixed 2,500 m² area for depot and manipulation of empty containers was completed in December 2016.
The hitherto missing repair facility necessitated welding work outside. These adverse circumstances led to a loss of quality and, of course, lacking efficiency. Furthermore, there was a lack of container storage area due to the increase in the variety of container loads.
Apart from the classic terminal services including transfer, Terminal Service Austria, the terminal business of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, now offers also renewal of the CSC badge, container repair and a generous storage area for intermodal loading units at the St. Michael site. The number of employees rose from 4 to 10 persons.
The expansion of the service portfolio was initiated not only due to to the requirements of Innofreight. Terminal manager Werner Lödl said to his biggest customer: “I see the relationship with Innofreight as a partnership. In the case of various problems in the daily work process, we always try to find a solution together.”
The increased storage capacity also enabled the implementation of a new train product of Wenzel Logistics: Since February, three round trips are operated between St. Michael at the large German Rhine port of Neuss. A fourth rotation on Saturday already ensures good capacity utilization at the terminal. Also the container repair business shows a steep development.
