TRIESTE – Signs of relief for rail traffic congestion at the Port of Koper: Luka Koper, the company managing the Slovenian port, has informed operators that yard occupancy at the container terminal continues to decline.
A positive development that boosts the terminal’s service productivity. Operators and clients can now reschedule their plans to improve transit times and loading/unloading dates.
As a result, Metrans (the rail operator owned by HHLA, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik) has lifted—since September 26—the seven-day acceptance rule for export containers and has accordingly readjusted train schedules.
Congestion issues are frequent at the Port of Koper, often leading to restricted access to the container terminal and to train cancellations by Metrans. The most recent occurred in early September, when the company announced that operations on the route to and from the port were significantly limited by major line closures, «due to which we had to reduce the total number of connections operating on this service», and four train pairs were cancelled.
Luka Koper continues to pursue new solutions to prevent congestion. In recent days, the company announced that a new auxiliary storage area with a capacity of 1,000 TEUs is being set up near the G1 truck gate. Built on a reinforced concrete base, it will also be able to accommodate heavy breakbulk and project cargo. Completion is expected by the end of the year.
As for the container terminal, the company has started introducing four new rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes. These fully electric units are powered by batteries when moving between container blocks and will complement the existing hybrid RTGs.
«In recent years, we have gradually phased out old diesel-powered equipment,» Luka Koper explained, «and transitioned to hybrid and fully electric systems. This upgrade improves energy efficiency, reduces noise emissions, and provides a more comfortable working environment for operators».
