The Venlo tri-modal terminal in the Netherlands expects that transhipment of maritime freight containers will grow by almost 15% this year. Last year the 159,000 units handled already represented an increase of almost 40%. The growth is mainly due to the commissioning of the inland barge shipping terminal by Europe Container Terminals.
The inland shipping terminal and the rail terminal form the Trimodal Container Terminal that Europe Container Terminals uses as an ‘inland gate’.
Besides four daily train shuttles within the Netherlands, there are daily inland shipping departures by barge. The Venlo terminal attributes its success to, among other things, its location close to the German border at Nord Rhein Westfalia. This is one of the largest industrial areas of Europe.
From Venlo terminal rail and inland shipping are equivalent, frequent, equally priced and thus flexibly interchangeable modalities.