Since mid-June, Hellmann has been the first customer to use the new MegaHub in Lehrte near Hanover. The combined transport (CT) facility is operated by MegaHub Lehrte Betreibergesellschaft mbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Umschlaggesellschaft Schiene-Straße (DUSS). In the fast-transshipment facility, loading units are transferred from trucks directly onto trains and then transported to their destination with shortened transport times. The MegaHub is thus the final piece of the puzzle for our nationwide rail transports in Germany, enabling us to combine routes more flexibly, to consolidate the intermodal transport network in Germany and Europe, and thus contribute to improved supply security for our customers.  

The new transshipment facility is located only a few 100 meters away from our branch in Lehrte. Shorter distances between our cross-dock and the CT terminal can optimize the processes in the pre- and post-carriage to the rail transport. At the same time, we are increasing our capacities by significantly reducing loading and transport times. By avoiding around 40 truck tours a day between our cross-dock and the previously used CT terminal in Hannover Linden, not only will CO2 emissions be significantly reduced, but traffic in the Hannover inner city area will also be relieved.

Trains from Scandinavia, Poland, and the Benelux countries converge at the railway junction in Lehrte. At the same time, the good road traffic connections due to the immediate vicinity of the A2 and A7 motorways offer the opportunity to further expand our combined transport services and, in the future, to offer additional trains - for example between Hamburg and Nuremberg - via the Lehrte MegaHub. Shifting more road transport to rail also contributes to compliance with the German Federal Government's climate package, which provides for an increased shift of transport from road to rail by 2030.

"Thanks to the new CT system, we can combine our previously singular train services into a network by recombining offered routes. This holds considerable growth prospects for us as a company. At the same time, our customers benefit from the fact that we are expanding our rail capacities and at the same time increasing our service quality," says Dirk Baerbock, Head of Multimodal Solutions Europe, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics.

For years now, the signs have been pointing to growth in our national rail traffic. The cooperation with GVZ operator Bayernhafen in Regensburg recently closed one of the last gaps on the German north-south axis. Already today, five weekly block trains commute between Osnabrück, Lehrte, Regensburg, and Landshut - and with growing volume. Hellmann's own trains also commute between Hamburg and Nuremberg five times a week. Munich as a hub for rail transport across the Alps and to South-East Europe is to follow.