TransContainer will build two new terminals in Moscow

The container operator TransContainer (part of the Delo Group) plans to build two new terminals at the Moscow Transport Hub (MTU). This was told to journalists by the company’s president Vitaly Evdokimenko. He did not name the planned capacity of future terminals. “We are considering the possibility of significantly increasing our processing capacity in Mosuzl,” the top manager added.

TransContainer has its own facilities at MTU, which Evdokimenko estimates have a handling capacity of approximately 450,000 TEU (equivalent to a 20-foot container). These are terminals at the Kuntsevo-2 and Vorsino stations. TransContainer owns the latter jointly with partners, its processing capacity is 340,000 TEU, Evdokimenko explained. But the available capacities, according to the president of the company, are not enough for sustainable operation and increasing traffic volumes.

In November last year, TransContainer refused to reconstruct the terminal at the Kuntsevo-2 station due to restrictions due to the congestion of the capital’s road network, said Victor Markov, First Vice President of the company. According to him, the Moscow government limited the terminal’s processing volumes to 150,000 TEU. Evdokimenko, in turn, stressed that TransContainer would in any case maintain this terminal. “But there are no great prospects for increasing its processing capacity,” he said.

In total, TransContainer has 40 terminals, Yevdokimenko said. According to him, the lion’s share of these assets was contributed to the authorized capital of the company at the stage of its creation. In addition to terminals in Moscow, TransContainer plans to build additional facilities in Yekaterinburg and the Far East.

The Moscow transport hub runs through almost the entire territory of Moscow and the region. The MTU includes 11 railway lines, two district rings, intra-city railway lines, more than 200 stations, access roads, highways, airports, as well as river ports connected with the Baltic, Caspian, Azov and Black Sea basins. A core network of five nodal multimodal transport and logistics centers (TLC) is being formed on the territory of MTU – Vostochny, Bely Rast, Khovrino, Vorsino and Kuntsevo-2.

According to the strategy for the development of the transport system of Moscow and the Moscow Region until 2035, the volume of cargo handling at MTU railway stations should increase from 70 million tons in 2021 to 77 million tons in 2035. The total freight traffic along the international transport corridors that pass through the MTU will increase from 4 million to 12-20 million tons by 2035, depending on the macroeconomic scenario. MTU container turnover, according to Infranews, grew by 10% over the first 9 months of 2022, to almost 980,000 TEU.

Representative Russian Railways told Vedomosti that the cargo logistics framework being formed in Moscow will increase the throughput and reliability of transportation chains at MTU. According to the interlocutor, he will rely on the already existing Khovrino and Kuntsevo-2 TLCs, as well as on the newly created South Port TLC. According to Russian Railways, the processing capacity of Kuntsevo-2 is 2.5 million tons per year. The terminal can handle, in addition to containers, packaged and heavy cargo. After reaching full capacity, Yuzhny Port will be able to handle up to 5.6 million tons of cargo per year for various enterprises in Moscow, the Russian Railways representative added.

The leading expert of Finam Management Management Company Dmitry Baranov estimates the share of MTU in freight traffic in the country at 15-25%, depending on the type of cargo and delivery logistics. According to him, MTU mainly serves consumer goods, food products and industrial products – equipment, components.

“There is logic in the construction of new terminals, it is difficult to expand the access infrastructure in the city,” said Baranov. In his opinion, the construction of terminals can take place in several stages: at the first stage, capacities will be created to handle 150,000 – 200,000 TEU, later they can be increased to 300,000 – 500,000 TEU.

Pavel Ivankin, President of the National Research Center for Transportation and Infrastructure, noted that the reconstruction of MTU has led to the fact that existing terminals with a capacity of more than 2 million TEU need to be transferred from Moscow to the region. “Today, the need of MTU, taking into account the transfer, is more than 3.5 million TEU,” he added. According to Ivankin, the cost of the terminal depends on the location and can reach up to 15 billion rubles. excluding the cost of joining the railway.