On 27 September 2016, a ceremonial seminar was held in Gdansk marking the completion of one of the most important investments for the future of the Port of Gdansk - the modernisation of railway line no. 226 and the construction of a railwaybridge over the Martwa Wisla, says PGA press center.
Both undertakings were long-awaited projects which changed the face of the Port's railway accessibility and undoubtedly constitute a milestone in the further development of the port on the logistics map of the country and East-Central Europe.
Line no. 226 and the railway bridge over the Martwa Wisla - the only line providing railway traffic access to the right-bank side of the Port of Gdansk, including the deepwater part with the greatest potential for development - are elements of the port's access infrastructure used annually by as much as 95% of all the trains directed to/from the port. Last year, average traffic on this route reached as high as 500 railway wagons a day. Among them, the majority (46%) were hopper wagons transporting coal; 37% were wagons with general cargo, mainly containers. Another 15% of traffic was trains with other bulk cargo, including chemicals and aggregates.
The huge dynamics of railway transport at the Port of Gdansk, which reached the level of +41% in 2015, considering the tonnage of goods transported from/to the port by rail, and +46%, when it comes to the number of railway wagons handled at the port, is a result showing that railway transport is increasingly important in port operations. Last year alone, the rail sector's share in the handling of cargo at the port totalled 28% and, apart from pipeline transport, it was the most frequently used mode of transport in Gdansk. If we were to exclude pipeline transport of fuels from the entirety of cargo handling on land at the port, the rail sector's share in the inward and outward transport of cargo to/from the port would reach 54%.
Rail today is the optimal mode of long-haul freight, and has been increasing at the Port of Gdansk each year. Goods transported most frequently by rail include bulk cargo, mainly coal. Recently, coal has been handled more and more often at the port's quays in Gdansk. As a reminder, 4.5 million tonnes of coal were handled at the Port of Gdansk last year, which was the second best result in the last decade.
Railway transport also involves intermodal transport, used more and more frequently, primarily for the transport of the majority of containerised cargo. Being the largest container port in Poland and the second largest in the Baltic Sea, the Port of Gdansk is continuously reporting record numbers of containers at the port's quays. Summing up the 8 months of this year, the number of containers at the Port of Gdansk increased by 27% compared to last year and by 3% compared to the record year of 2014. Such growth dynamics translates directly into an increase in the number of containers in land trade, including an increase in railway transport.
In the light of such realities at the port, the new railway access infrastructure that has come into service, along with the recently completed road investments, including the road tunnel below the Martwa Wisla which went into service last April, constitutesa very important element complementing the port's offer, and reinforces its competitive position on the market.
After eight months of this year, Gdansk moved up the ranking of the largest Baltic ports to sixth. This is a result never before achieved by any of the Polish ports. It should not come asa surprise then that the port's efficient access infrastructure was one of the most eagerly awaited investments of late, as in the coming years, the Port of Gdansk will aspire to further strengthen its position in the Baltic Sea and within the entire area of East-Central Europe. Without its new access infrastructure, such plans would definitely not be possible.