ArcelorMittal, DB open rail terminal at Eisenhüttenstadt

ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt has started operating the new freight train terminal it designed together with DB Cargo. The steelmaker highlights it as being particularly environmentally friendly, calling it a “milestone of green logistics”. The official launch was marked by German transport minister Volker Wissing.

With partially automated, state-of-the-art unloading facilities at the steelworks, the environment is protected better from fine dust and emissions, Kallanish learns from the companies. At the same time, lighter wagons and special containers ensure even more efficient utilisation of goods trains, they claim.

For modern rail logistics, DB Cargo has invested in multifunctional double wagons and special containers from Austrian manufacturer Innofreight, which also designed the unloading facility. The new equipment optimises the loading volume and increases the payload per train by up to 20%. Fewer goods trains need to run for the same transport volume, DB Cargo says.

The terminal costs millions of euros, ArcelorMittal says without giving the precise figure. From now on, it will be served by 18 back-and-forth transports from Hamburg, and 13 from Poland. “The new unloading facilities are tangible proof that these investments are money well spent for the future,” says ArcelorMittal Germany chief executive Reiner Blaschek. “With our transformation plan, we can save more than 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year in Eisenhüttenstadt by 2030.”

Christian Koehl Germany