Preparations for the launch of intermodal transport on the Turkey – Ukraine – Poland route are nearing completion in Poland. In particular, PKP Cargo Connect, a member of the PKP Cargo group, is holding talks on the launch of intermodal transportation of goods to Ukraine, with transshipment at a terminal in Medyka.
PKP Cargo announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
According to the statement, the company will be responsible for transportation of cargoes to Poland through the border crossing at Medyka, onward to Western Europe, and back.
"PKP Cargo Connect, which has a network of container terminals, is capable of implementing the entire logistics chain, and the key in this project is the terminal in Medyka (13 hectares) with a large warehouse and rail tracks with gauges of 1520 mm (which is used in Ukraine) and 1435 mm (which used in Poland and Western Europe)," the company said in the statement.
According to PKP Cargo, Medyka will become a key link in intermodal transport in the New Silk Road’s central corridor for this reason.
"At the terminal in Medyka, we specialize in transshipment of metal products, unitized cargo, and ceramic products. We can provide wagon-to-wagon or wagon-to-car transshipment services, as well as temporary storage of cargoes in a warehouse with 4,500 square meters of space. The company can transship containers, which should appear in the near future, thanks to the new intermodal lines from China that pass through Ukraine. In addition to negotiations with potential customers from China, we are currently negotiating with our Ukrainian partner CFTS Liski, but we can already see the potential for switching to Medyka," said Witold Strobel, PKP Cargo Connect’s board member for operations.
According to Czeslaw Warsewicz, the president of PKP Cargo S.A., the launch of a regular railway link with Ukraine and Turkey will increase the strategic importance of Medyka on the transport map of Poland and Europe.
As reported previously, the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) recently announced its participation in the project. In particular, it announced plans to develop a Turkey –Ukraine – Poland intermodal route. "Ukrzaliznytsia’s Liski division signed a memorandum of cooperation on development of a Turkey – Ukraine – Poland multimodal route with the Ukrferry and FerriPlus companies on 24 December 2020. The memorandum is open for signing by any company wishing to participate in the development and operation of the route," Liski’s Executive Director Edvins Berzins said at the time.
In addition, Ukrzaliznytsia has made its own proposals on development of a new Baltic – Black Sea transport corridor, which will increase the traffic between Poland, Sweden, Turkey, and Ukraine. According to Berzins, this was discussed during the web conference on "Creation of a New Corridor between the Baltic and Black Seas," which took place on 11 February with the support of the port of Gdansk. "We proposed an exact calculated route (Turkey – Ukraine – Poland) together with partners in this project," he said.
