Belgium Expands Ghent Sea Port Rail Yard To Boost Freight Capacity And Improve Logistics Efficiency

Published on October 13, 2025

Belgium’s nationalist infrastructure manager, Infrabel, has officially reopened Mercator Yard astatine Ghent Sea Port pursuing important upgrades designed to meet nan increasing request for freight transport. The upgrades, which included nan hold of six sidings to 750 meters, alteration nan gait to accommodate 740-meter-long freight trains, marking a awesome measurement successful expanding nan port’s obstruction capacity and boosting its logistical capabilities. This improvement is peculiarly important arsenic Ghent Port serves arsenic a captious hub for cardinal industries successful Belgium, including nan Volvo car plant, DFDS Ferries, and Arcelor Mittal.

The costs of nan description task reached €12.5 million, pinch €4 cardinal funded by nan Belgian national authorities and nan remainder originated from nan European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility Fund. The determination to widen nan sidings comes aft a dependable summation successful traffic, pinch Mercator Yard seeing complete 4,000 train movements successful 2022, making it 1 of nan busiest yards astatine nan port. This description allows nan gait to grip longer freight trains, improving ratio and enabling nan larboard to negociate larger volumes of goods.

Mercator Yard’s Key Role successful Belgium’s Industrial Landscape

The Mercator Yard is important for nan logistics of galore businesses successful nan region, particularly nan Volvo car plant which is served by Lineas, a cardinal obstruction operator. Lineas operates up to 2 regular trains that carrier car parts from Ålmhult, Sweden, to nan Volvo plant, ensuring a dependable proviso of parts for conveyance manufacturing. In addition, Arcelor Mittal, a alloy manufacturing giant, besides relies connected nan gait for nan proscription of earthy materials, while DFDS Ferries uses nan larboard to move freight to and from nan UK.

With obstruction becoming an progressively important mode of transportation, Mercator Yard has seen a dependable emergence successful nan number of trains passing done its tracks. This description is not conscionable astir expanding nan size of nan yard, but besides astir enhancing efficiency and sustainability successful logistics. By allowing longer trains, Infrabel is ensuring that much equipment tin beryllium moved per train, reducing congestion and lowering nan wide biology effect of transport. The gait has retained 3 further sidings, each betwixt 500m and 600m, to proceed handling smaller trains.

Future Developments and Sustainability Goals

The successful hold of nan sidings is only nan first shape of a broader scheme to heighten Mercator Yard’s capacity and safety. Infrabel has already outlined nan adjacent shape of works, which will see nan installation of new signals and nan integration of remote constituent operation to amended information and operational flexibility. This shape is scheduled for completion by 2029 and is an basal portion of Belgium’s strategy to summation nan stock of equipment transported by obstruction successful Ghent Port. Infrabel intends to raise rail’s modal share from 10% to 15% by nan clip nan useful are completed.

Benoît Gilson, CEO of Infrabel, emphasized nan value of nan investment, stating that it will not only heighten nan port’s rail capacity but besides lend to sustainability. By shifting much freight from roadworthy to rail, this infrastructure upgrade is expected to trim nan biology footprint of carrier astatine nan port. Gilson added, “This infrastructure is basal and provides much capacity astatine Ghent, which is an motor of nan Belgian economy. This finance will lend to modal shift and is besides affirmative for nan environment.”

A Strategic Investment for nan Future of Belgium’s Rail Network

The finance successful Mercator Yard and nan consequent improvements to rail infrastructure are portion of Belgium’s ongoing efforts to modernize its proscription web and beforehand much sustainable and businesslike logistics solutions. As rail transport becomes an progressively important constituent successful nan world proviso chain, nan description astatine Ghent Sea Port ensures that Belgium remains competitory successful international trade and logistics.

This improvement not only strengthens Belgium’s position successful European logistics but besides supports nan broader extremity of reducing c emissions. The displacement from roadworthy to obstruction is successful statement pinch nan country’s committedness to achieving its biology goals and fostering much sustainable carrier practices. As nan adjacent shape of improvements unfolds, Infrabel’s strategical finance will proceed to heighten nan capacity, safety, and sustainability of obstruction carrier successful nan Flanders region, boosting Ghent Port’s domiciled arsenic a cardinal logistics hub successful Europe.