Novinky

The laying of new rail tracks for reloading, drainage and the compacting of material handling areas – those are the key parts of a reconstruction performed in recent weeks at the independent open Ostrava-Paskov terminal. The terminal is owned by international transport and logistics group AWT, which will invest CZK 30 million into the first stage of its modernisation. It is planned that the work will be completed before the end of this year.

The terminal, where AWT has already previously invested approximately CZK 80 million, facilitates the switching of goods transport from road to rail, bringing relief to the country’s motorways, which are overloaded with heavy trucks. “We consider intermodal transport that switches between road and rail to be the future of our industry. It combines safety with the environmental friendliness of rail transport and the speed of road shipping, thus prompting ever-increasing interest from our customers. This trend is also demonstrated by the growing volume of cargo handling undertaken at the Ostrava-Paskov terminal, which has already exceeded 32,000 reloaded containers this year, marking a year-on-year increase of 100 per cent,” explained Edin Sose, Chief Commercial Officer of the AWT Group.

The reconstruction is already in full swing. The existing siding track has been extended from the original 200 metres to 260 metres, while its points ladder has also been adjusted. Two new tracks have been laid (each 300 metres long), and a road crossing has been finished. The duration for handling a container train will thus shrink from one hour and a half to a mere 20 minutes. In terms of the volume of goods, each such train replaces 30 to 35 trucks.

The current works include the compacting of the handling area, including the drainage and sewerage system. The compacting of 10,000 square metres, out of the total 31,000 square metres of the overall yard area, is planned for the first stage. This step will also increase the capacity from the current 1,400 TEU to as much as 1,700 TEU (TEU = twenty-foot equivalent unit, a twenty-foot container).

“The refurbishments are taking place during the full operation of the terminal. That is why we have opened a relief yard in Staříč, approximately six kilometres away. The relief yard enables us both to manage the volumes handled and to carry on with the Ostrava-Paskov terminal overhaul,” noted Bohumil Bonczek, AWT Group’s Chief Technical Officer.

Managing the increasing handling volume and securing sufficient storage capacities will require the operation of the Staříč terminal in the future, Bonczek added. A new container handler Hyster 46-36 Ch has started service at Staříč, joining two existing machines – a Hyster 45-24 IH and a Kalmar DRF 450 operated at Ostrava-Paskov. Both of the latter mentioned stackers are capable of handling containers weighing up to 45 tonnes.

The AWT Group’s terminal in Ostrava-Paskov, in operation since 2007, is one of a handful of comparable yards in the Czech Republic. It is operated as an independent terminal, meaning that it is not limited to AWT purposes only, but is open to any customer in need of cargo reloading. As such, the terminal fulfils the role of a public logistics centre in the Moravian-Silesian Region. It enjoys a strategic position near a motorway, proximity to the Polish and Slovak borders, as well as a link to the national rail network. The industrial zones in Ostrava-Hrabová, Nošovice, Mošnov, Český Těšín and Třinec are all less than 50 kilometres away. The terminal is also linked to major European seaports –Hamburg and Bremerhaven in Germany, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Koper in Slovenia. The marshalling yard, consisting of nine tracks, is serviced by two shunters 24 hours a day. In addition to transshipment, collection and distribution of containers, the Ostrava-Paskov terminal also offers customs clearance of complete trains and individual truck consignments.