In 2005, intermodal operator PCC Intermodal SA transported its first TEU by train from Brzeg Dolny to Świnoujście. Ten years later, in 2015, the company transported its first million TEUs. Just over four years later, PCC Intermodal had already transported 2 million TEUs by rail.
The operator exceeded its third million TEUs in January 2023. The fourth million joins this result in the anniversary year – 2025 – when the company celebrates the 20th anniversary of sending its first intermodal train.
And …the year is not over yet!
During this time (2 decades), the company has proceeded investments worth over EUR 150 million, of which one-third (EUR 50 million) came from EU funds.
The example of PCC Intermodal confirms that the intermodal industry in Europe has a bright future, and that intermodal transport is an effective method of transport on both domestic and international routes. Investments in intermodal terminals connected by a network of regular connections have proven to be the right direction for development and real support for the railways. It is also an increasingly convenient solution for manufacturers and a viable alternative when they cannot or do not want to use long-distance road transport.
Despite the difficulties intermodal industry still need to face, the operator has managed to:
– build the largest operational-wise transshipment terminal in central Poland (PCC Kutno Terminal);
– build an international network of intermodal connections that handles container transport according to regular schedules and is available even for small shippers;
– modernize transshipment terminals in Lower Silesia (Brzeg Dolny), Upper Silesia (Gliwice), on the PL/DE border in Frankfurt (Oder), and launch a transshipment depot in Podkarpackie Region (Kolbuszowa);
– guarantee Polish ports intermodal access to the country’s most economically important regions with the regularity several times a day;
– provide Polish and foreign manufacturers with easy, regular access to modern logistics solutions and daily transport connections between Poland and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Ukraine.
At its own and partners’ inland terminals, the operator is currently able to handle over one million TEUs per year within the PCC network.
One million TEU is also a parameter that will distinguish the operator’s largest investment project – the Intermodal Container Yard in Zajączkowo Tczewskie.
The dry port is an initiative that will bring a new quality to intermodal traffic in the Baltic-Adriatic corridor and provide ports with additional land-side capacity for containers transshipped at sea terminals.
Millions of people around the world are watching the intermodal industry, millions are rooting for it. Hundreds of companies are investing millions so that the container industry can grow, connecting regions and continents. Intermodal has become a permanent feature of modern, rapidly developing economies.
The operator started out as a small company with just a few employees, but today PCC Intermodal is a team of over 500 employees who build real, solid foundations for international trade every day.
The 4 million TEUs we have transported so far is a huge success, but also a huge challenge that we have managed to overcome. Behind every single TEU, of those 4 million, lies a tremendous amount of work, people, and sacrifices that we make every day. The operational knowledge and experience we have gained over the last two decades is paying off. We will try to keep the trend going and reach the next million in intermodal transport even faster, but it will not be easy. Intermodal transport faces a million challenges today, and unfortunately we expect that there will be no fewer next year. We need investments in line infrastructure – we are glad that they are being made, but each of them means millions of hours worked, messages read and written, changes implemented, and new solutions that we have to analyze, proceed. All this is to ensure that transport is carried out efficiently, quickly, and wisely – and that it fulfills the millions of hopes placed in us…”
Tomasz Skarżyński,
Customer Service Director, PCC Intemodal SA.
