Port of Hamburg achieves record result on rail freight transport

The 2016 annual results presented by representatives of Port of Hamburg Marketing at the port’s Annual Press Conference Hamburg indicated that in stiff competition with the main ports of Northern Europe, the port can claim an especially good trend for its seaport-hinterland rail services. Against the general trend for lower rail freight traffic volumes in Germany, the volume of freight transported into or out of the Port of Hamburg by rail reached 46.4 million tons and was up by 1.5 percent. Linking Hamburg with all hinterland economic regions, more than 200 freight trains per day reach or leave Europe’s largest rail port. A joint initiative by Warsteiner Brewery and its project partner Conjoin has contributed. These companies have offered a direct container block train for firms in North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) with the Port of Hamburg since last year.
 
‘We have once again been able to boost the proportion of freight being transported by rail. In 2016 freight totalling 46.4 million tons (up by1.5 percent) and 2.4 million TEU (up by 2.4 percent) was transported by rail into or out of the Port of Hamburg. Hamburg is further extending its position as Europe’s leading rail port. We are delighted about this record result. In this context, Warsteiner Brewery’s freight transport scheme is an outstanding example of sustainable corporate initiative,’ said Ingo Egloff, Joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing.
 
Ulrich Brendel, Warsteiner Brewery’s Technical Director: ‘Offering a high level of service and low environmental load, with our partners we have been able to organize future-oriented freight transport logistics to link our region with the seaport. Along with our existing Munich and Berlin rail services, we are delighted to have this new port destination that naturally provides perfect service for our beer export business to 60 countries throughout the world.’
 
Since early 2016, Warsteiner Brewery, and Conjoin have assembled a complete container block train several times per week. Apart from containers loaded with beer and seaborne containers, these transport swapbodies for other shippers in intermodal traffic between Warsteiner’s own terminal and the EUROKOMBI Terminal in the Port of Hamburg. Traction as well as technical service for the container train is provided by Westfälische Landes-Eisenbahn (WLE). Any spare capacity on the Warsteiner container train is offered to shippers and forwarders for transport of their containers or swapbodies. Conjoin looks after marketing, handling of transport bookings and pre- and post-carriage runs in the region. In this way Warsteiner is offering environment-friendly, sustainable transport logistics technology for all companies in NRW and forwarders in the Hamburg area.
 
About Warsteiner Brewery
Warsteiner Brewery, founded in 1753, is among Germany’s largest privately-owned breweries. Its flagship is the WARSTEINER Premium Pilsener brand, among the most popular beer brands in the country. Apart from Warsteiner Brewery, Warsteiner Group also owns Paderborn Brewery (Paderborner, Isenbeck, Weissenburg), Herford Brewery (incl. Herforder Pils), Frankenheim Private Brewery (Frankenheim Alt) as well as a stake in König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg (König Ludwig Dunkles, König Ludwig Weissbier, König Ludwig Hell). Warsteiner Group meanwhile markets its products in over 60 countries around the world.