Arken Terminal at the Port of Gothenburg Nearly Doubles Yard Capacity

Arken Intermodal Terminal, located at the Port of Gothenburg in Sweden, significantly increased its yard capacity after rebuilding and optimizing the layout of its rail tracks. The intervention freed up approximately 4,000 square meters of space for cargo handling, mainly intended for trailers and other units.

As explained by Carl Johan Andersson, Senior Logistics Developer at the Port of Gothenburg, a 5% increase in surface area made it possible to achieve nearly double the yard capacity. The executive stressed that space is a limited resource at a port and that capacity development is not only about building bigger, but about using the infrastructure and land already available more intelligently.

The project involved rebuilding one of the terminal's through tracks, in a context of sustained growth in cargo volumes that had pushed certain flows close to their capacity limit, with yard space as the main limiting factor.

Emma Meltin, Intermodal Bridge Manager at Gothenburg RoRo Terminal, the facility's operator, noted that the expansion is aimed mainly at gaining flexibility in day-to-day operations. By being able to store more cargo at the terminal, it becomes easier to plan flows and manage demand peaks without needing to move cargo unnecessarily, which in turn improves efficiency and provides a more reliable service to customers.

Arken Intermodal Terminal covers about 65,000 square meters and has 7 electrified rail tracks with a total length of 3,360 meters, with capacity to handle around 100,000 units and trailers per year. It has been operated by Gothenburg RoRo Terminal since 2022 and is located alongside the port's container and ro-ro terminals, enabling transfers between rail, vessel and truck. The Port of Gothenburg, the largest in Scandinavia, handles close to 20% of Sweden's foreign trade and more than half of the country's container traffic, with over 30 daily rail shuttles to destinations in Sweden and Norway.