The money will be provided via the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) — Transport Calls for Proposals. «The upgrade of the terminal will allow the increase of the handling capacity of the cranes on the combined transport platform by over 60 per cent», CFL pointed out. The plan also entails studies on the deployment of a 5G network at the facility and the digitisation and automation of terminal operations. The project for the upgrade of CFL’s terminal started in 2021 and is expected to be finished in 2024. The rest of the project will be funded through external financing, as CFL told RailFreight.com.
The Bettembourg-Dudelange terminal upgrade is part of a project jointly launched by CFL and the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). This initiative, renamed PULSE, consists of five projects. Two of them are the installation of a third gantry crane and the implementation of the Remote Operating System, which have both already been carried out. The rest of the works «aim at increasing the handling capacity, optimising the terminal processes in terms of digitalisation and decreasing carbon emissions of the rail motorway platform» CFL said.
The Dudelange-Bettembourg intermodal terminal
Currently, the terminal can count on a maximum yearly capacity of 600,000 TEUs. The terminal has four combined railway tracks of 700 metres each and two rail motorway platforms, always of 700 metres each. This allows CFL to handle 12 daily trains on the combined terminal and 16 daily trains on the rail motorway. The rail motorway platform is also equipped with the Lohr Railway System, which allows for the horizontal transshipment of non-cranable semi-trailers.
The terminal has connections all over Europe, including France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Sweden. Moreover, thanks to the connection to Passau, in Germany, the terminal can be linked via rail to Turkey as well. The main connection from the Dudelange-Bettembourg terminal is certainly Le Boulou, in southern France, with 25 weekly trains.
