Green future-proofing of Sweden’s freight transport

At APM Terminals Gothenburg, we have for many years worked hard and made substantial investments in infrastructure, partnerships and new ways of working in order to future-proof the Swedish logistics system.

Shipping + Rail = Green Gothenburg Gateway

Two years ago, APM Terminals Gothenburg decided to speed up the development of Sweden’s freight transportation. The requirement was that it must not take more than 24 hours for a container to travel to or from Sweden’s largest container terminal, regardless of where in the country it comes from or where in the country it is headed. This must also be done with as little carbon footprint as possible. The solution was to connect climate-smart rail with sustainable maritime transport, a concept named Green Gothenburg Gateway.

At the same time, we took the opportunity to make our container handling fossil-free and reduce our own carbon footprint by 90%.

Close cooperation with partners, a success factor

A first step in implementing the Green Gothenburg Gateway concept was to connect us even more closely with key players. The objective was clear: rail traffic to and from Gothenburg would double in 2022. In order to achieve this, capacity and more effective planning needed to be secured in the most important freight routes, a job that was not possible without regular meetings with the Swedish Transport Administration, railway operators, shipping companies and Göteborgs Hamn AB.

“With the help of clear objectives and close cooperation with partners, we have been able to help our customers utilise the full potential of rail, which has become even more important during the pandemic as the need for reliable flows and flexibility has increased significantly,” says Svante Altås, Sr. Sales Executive at APM Terminals Gothenburg.

“We see great enthusiasm among partners and customers, both current and future, to develop creative and long-term solutions together with us. Several operators need to be involved in order for a new solution to be put in place, but once the shuttle is in place, it will be easy for more customers to join, which is a contributing factor to the steady increase in rail volumes via APM Terminals,” says Homam Mansour, Rail Planner at APM Terminals Gothenburg.

The results

The year is coming to an end and it is time to evaluate the targets set in 2019. One goal was to increase the rail share from 50% to 60%. Of all goods handled at APM Terminals Gothenburg today, 54% comes from rail, a share that is expected to increase in the coming years.

“In 2022, we welcome ten new shuttles, both short and long range,” says Svante Altås.

In 2019, APM Terminals regularly managed 4,000 units per week by rail and the aim was for this figure to increase to 7,000 in 2022. Today, 5,000 rail units are managed on an ongoing basis per week.

“Thanks to intensive efficiency work, we have the capacity to receive at least as much more. Over the past two years, the turnaround time for a train has decreased from 90 to 60 minutes,” he continues.

“It would never have been possible to develop the Green Gothenburg Gateway without the extremely creative and customer-focused collaboration of everyone involved. Challenges that initially appeared to be difficult nuts to crack have been resolved, and on top of that the pandemic has further accelerated development. At APM Terminals, we want to thank all our partners and customers for their work so far, and we look forward to an equally exciting and productive 2022,” says Magnus Lundberg, Commercial Manager at APM Terminals Gothenburg.