• First cargo units transferred last night
  
  
• Connected destination terminals create new end-to-end routes on rail
  
  
• Intermodal location benefit for Hanover
  

(Frankfurt/Main, 7 April 2021) Yesterday evening Kombiverkehr KG started its new transport system to and from Hannover Lehrte with four national routes, thereby integrating the new rapid-transfer facility into the operator's national and international network. Following today's arrival of the first trains from Duisburg and Ludwigshafen, the incoming cargo units were reassigned to their destinations – Lübeck Dänischburg CTL and Lübeck Skandinavienkai – between 3 and 5 in the morning and then loaded onto the outgoing trains for the specific destinations. These then departed the MegaHub at around 6.30am. "Together with DB Cargo and all the staff of the transfer facility, we have turned rail-rail transfer in Hannover Lehrte and hence the fundamental system idea of the MegaHub into reality. The unique advantage of the facility – the rapid movement of the cargo units between the trains in a particular short space of time – is now there for all to see," says Armin Riedl, Managing Director of Kombiverkehr, commenting on the commencement of services.

New system product creates flexibility for logistics companies
In the now completed start-up phase, the Frankfurt-based intermodal specialist has connected the Ludwigshafen KTL, Duisburg Ruhrort Hafen DUSS and Lübeck Dänischburg CTL terminals and the Baltic Rail Gate at Lübeck Skandinavienkai to Hannover Lehrte by direct train services. The CTL terminal operated by Lehmann opens up the possibility of continental intermodal transport with Kombiverkehr as far as Stockholm and Gävle. The Lübeck facilities are particularly useful as intermodal transit points for services to and from Sweden, Finland, Norway and the Baltic states by ferry or by rail across the Öresund Bridge. München-Riem and Verona Interterminal will follow as further departure and arrival stations on 26 April. All connected terminals are linked to each other via the MegaHub. The connections are scheduled so that trains will arrive between 8 in the evening and 6 in the morning and be laid up only briefly. The new system product from Kombiverkehr is already giving forwarders and logistics companies a whole range of additional options for reaching key economic regions and ports in Europe. "Our forwarding customers can immediately profit from the possibility of booking new, fast routings. We are looking to increase these in a second expansion stage in the future. In addition, following the successful start of services we have now connected the Hanover economic region to our complete network," says Managing Director Alexander Ochs. The company is already in discussions about planning the future expansion of the transport system.

Intermodal location benefit for the Hanover region
The MegaHub is situated at a leading road and rail intersection in Germany, making it the best geographical location for transport services. The connection of the MegaHub to the networks now strengthens Hanover as a logistics location even further. While previously only Verona in northern Italy was on the timetable, now industry, commerce and logistics have a broad array of national and international connections to choose from when it comes to shifting transport from road to climate-friendly rail. Not only is Hanover connected to the direct destination terminals, but in the gateway system it is now also linked to Madrid, Trieste, Pendik (Istanbul), Vienna, Budapest and Hallsberg and Stockholm in Sweden, among other places.

Special control system and Automated Guided Vehicles ensure rapid transfers
After around two years of construction work, the MegaHub Lehrte rapid transshipment facility – Kombiverkehr KG has a 16.67 per cent stake in the operating company alongside Deutsche Umschlaggesellschaft Schiene-Straße (DUSS) – started freight transfers between truck and train in June 2020. Among the installations erected on the some 120,000 square metres of the grounds of the former Lehrte shunting yard since the turf-cutting ceremony in May 2018 are six transshipment platforms, each roughly 700 metres in length, and three gantry cranes. A special operations control system directs the interaction between crane, longitudinal conveying system and resources. This ensures highly effective transfer maximisation while at the same time taking account of the available timeframes. Waiting and standstill times are avoided and energy consumption and wear reduced to a minimum. Automated Guided Vehicles, which are driverless, all-electric vehicles, convey cargo units in the longitudinal direction between the gantry cranes.

Last night Frankfurt-based Kombiverkehr KG turned rapid transfer from rail to rail into reality in the Hannover-Lehrte MegaHub.

The press photo can be downloaded here.



The press photo can be downloaded here.




The press photo can be downloaded here.




The press photo can be downloaded here.




The press photo can be downloaded here.