Adria Rail operates the rail terminal in Indija, between Belgrade and Novi Sad. «Through its investment in Adria Rail, METRANS is now operating its first terminal in Serbia», said the company.
METRANS seems to understand the growing importance of the rail route between Hungary and Serbia as a gateway between the Balkans and Turkey, and Central Europe. Consequently, the strategic moves in the region reflect the possibility of increased traffic in the future, with rail as the frontrunner.
Increasing investments for rail freight in southern Hungary
When it comes to Hungary, the company is also working on the construction of two new terminals. One of them will be located in Szeged, near the borders with Romania and Serbia and is expected to start operations in 2025. One will be in Zalaegerszeg, near the Hungarian borders with Austria and Slovenia, for which construction has already started in 2021. This terminal is expected to be up and running by 2023, and METRANS will invest roughly 40 million euros in the project.
With these two additions, the company will be able to soon rely on three facilities in Hungary since it already operates one in Budapest. «Countries in Southeastern Europe are experiencing dynamic growth. Therefore, new logistics solutions are required», METRANS CEO Peter Kiss added.
However, METRANS is not the only company investing in terminals in southern Hungary/northern Serbia. Another new facility, the Horgos Terminal, will be built on the Serbian-Hungarian border to facilitate rail freight between the Balkan region and the rest of the European Union. The project is being led by Rihard Dobo, CEO at Dibex and Roadex Trans, both road freight companies. The Horgos Terminal will have four 740-metre-long tracks and will be equipped to handle semi-trailers as well.
Connecting Turkey to Poland
METRANS also recently launched a new rail connection between Ostrava, in the Czech Republic, and Dunajska Streda, in Slovakia. The company operates terminals in both destinations, and pointed out that this new service will improve transit times between Poland and Tukey via Ostrava and Dunajska Streda. In 2022, METRANS launched new services connecting Dunajska Streda to the Halkali terminal near Istanbul and linking Ostrava with Gdansk, in Poland. The new Czechia-Slovakia connections, therefore, will act as a ‘bridge’ connecting Poland and Turkey.
