Intermodal Subsidiary Metrans Celebrates 25 Years of Success

In the spring of 1991, the Metrans company was founded with the aim to more closely connect the then Czechoslovakian capital of Prague with the Port of Hamburg via rail. Metrans commenced operations in October 1991. Twenty-five years later, the company is the market leader for container transport in seaport-hinterland traffic in Central and Eastern Europe.

Metrans’ network is closely connected between the seaports on the North Sea and the Adriatic Sea and its hinterland. It stretches from the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, right up to the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul. Approximately 300 trains travel on this network every week. Its nine own inland terminals are the points of intersection from which Metrans transports containers in both seaport-hinterland and, increasingly, continental traffic via its own locomotives and wagons. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) holds just over 90 percent of the shares in Metrans and will continue to push on with the strategic expansion of rail activities at its intermodal subsidiary. After all, the Port of Hamburg benefits from the growth in container transport by train as well. The excellent, high-frequency and environmentally friendly rail connections with Central and Eastern Europe attract cargo to the port and significantly contribute to the further development of Europe’s largest rail port.

Metrans is celebrating this success story today with approximately 450 customers and employees. After a visit to the Prague Metrans terminal, the company’s first, the celebration will take place in the evening in the grand Municipal House in Prague’s old town.

Klaus-Dieter Peters, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG: “The pleasing growth that we have seen in our Intermodal segment is mainly driven by our rail subsidiary Metrans. Our investments in our own terminals and rolling stock have significantly increased the segment’s value added. We thus offer our customers reliable and flexible rail connections to Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Not least as a result of this success, with the Intermodal segment we have also been able to establish a second successful pillar for HHLA as part of our diversification strategy.”

Jiri Samek, Chairman of the Executive Board of Metrans a.s.: “The success of 25 years of Metrans is the result of a visionary idea, its implementation and the partnership with HHLA, the largest terminal operator in the Port of Hamburg. Yet just as important for the success of our company are our loyal customers and our highly motivated employees. This is why we are celebrating with them today.”

Metrans has become an essential driver of growth within HHLA’s Intermodal segment. HHLA’s subsidiaries in the segment transported more than 1.3 million standard containers (TEU) in the 2015 financial year and contributed more than 30 percent to Group revenue as well as more than 35 percent to the Group operating result (EBIT). Investments in the now more than 50 own locomotives, approximately 2,500 wagons and own handling facilities have had a noticeable effect here. In the previous year alone, HHLA invested € 77.1 million in the strategic expansion of rail activities. Next year, Metrans’ tenth inland terminal will be opened in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Currently under construction, the terminal will have a capacity of 250,000 TEU a year. Thanks to its strategic location, it is ideally positioned as an interface between the Northern European seaports, the Adriatic ports and South-Eastern Europe.