At the border between Poland and Ukraine, Container Terminal Mostyska is gearing up to receive the first trains. In April this year, a first test run will be organised. It is a first step towards a busy traffic node on the vital border crossing, which opens again this Thursday.

Rail freight traffic between Poland and Ukraine may have been halted for over two months, the demand has not slowed down. As soon as the border reopens this Thursday 10 February, freight trains from Asia to Europe and vice versa will be flowing through this border point. The brand new terminal in Mostyska is almost ready to tap into the potential of this region.

Broad and normal gauge

Container Terminal Mostyska is a partnership project of N’Unit and Lemtrans. According to the owners, it is the first private full-scale terminal on the border between Poland and Ukraine.

One of the main advantages is that it offers broad gauge and standard gauge, so that it is able to reload traffic moving between the east and the west. With this, it has the potential to facilitate trains on the route from China to Europe and back.

“We would like to be an alternative gateway on the New Silk Road. We want to encourage transit traffic through Ukraine together with the huge turnover between Ukraine and the EU. A total of 100 thousand TEUs annual capacity is expected in the first stage”, explained Igor Bogdanov, managing director at N’Unit earlier.

Equal for all Europeans

In the initial phase, the focus of the terminal will be on handling trains. The terminal owners are hoping to attract traffic especially from the European market in these first months. “The terminal will provide all European operators with equal access to the Ukrainian markets”, they point out.

“We are also hoping to attract cargo flows from Lithuania, now that the transit through Belarus is restricted. The terminal in Mostyska can play a role in this”, says Yuriy Krasovsky from MTA Service, a party involved with the terminal.

More than just trains

In the second phase, the terminal will expand with warehousing services, and in the third phase it will also start providing services such as reloading, packaging and other things that dryports do.

Eventually, the terminal should become a container hub for freight trains on this route, taking cargo off the road too. “This will also solve problems such as the limited number of vehicle permits for truckers and truck queues at the border with Poland, the partners explain.