HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, the logistics consultancy specialising in management consultancy and software solutions for ports, maritime and inland waterway terminals, as well as intermodal rail transport, has prepared plans for further development of the rail terminal CCT Villach Süd, Austria. The facility operator Terminal Service Austria (TSA), a subsidiary of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and specialists for the handling of unaccompanied combined transport (UCT) and rolling motorway (RoLa) trains at seven Austrian stations, intends to expand the intermodal terminal.
Due to its good geographical location in the tri-state area bordering Slovenia and Italy, as well as on the Baltic-Adriatic and Mediterranean transport axis, the Combi Cargo Terminal CCT Villach Süd has great potential to participate in the increasing intra-European traffic and ferry port-hinterland traffic.
TSA has appointed HPC to conduct a terminal planning study to analyse various alternative models for modernisation and expansion and rank them by priority. The decisive condition for the approval of developing a target model was a high degree of flexibility and security, even during the expansion phases, to preserve the ability to adapt to changing market environments.
The most scrutinised question was how the cargo handling volumes would evolve and affect storage capacity and cargo handling equipment, to preserve the effective handling of various load types, including containers, swap bodies and semi-trailers. Furthermore, the relation between the terminal infrastructure and the expansion of rail track capacity is being examined.
“As specialists for the planning, optimisation and expansive development of terminals and harbours, we can provide our customers with integrated layout and capacity plans, which visualise a facility from a holistic operational and interconnected perspective”, says Frank Busse, Associate Partner and specialist for intermodal infrastructure planning at HPC.
“CCT Villach is a location with potential for vast expansion, not only regarding infrastructure but also strategically in conjunction with the planned Dry Port at the Villach-Fürnitz site – as a possible fully-fledged outpost of the Port of Trieste.”
HPC has already realised more than 120 projects for intermodal terminal operators, mostly in Europe and North America. The scope of lifecycle consulting services includes layout and capacity planning, gate concepts, equipment specification, procurement assistance, as well as IT integration, process automation and funding.
Also, for the further development of the Port of Trieste, HPC has successfully assisted in obtaining funding from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, to improve the port's connection to the Trans-European Transport Network.
For more information and references on HPC consultancy services for the intermodal logistics sector, please visit www.hamburgportconsulting.com