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Rail customs corridor between Container Terminal|Dryport Fürnitz and the port of Trieste

In order to shift freight transport to rail and make Carinthia even more attractive as a business location, ÖBB, in close cooperation with the state of Carinthia, want to strengthen the Logistics Center Austria Süd (LCA-Süd) in Fürnitz and establish a rail customs corridor between Trieste and Fürnitz. In addition to increasing the added value for the state of Carinthia and its industry, the LCA-Süd can thus be expanded into an international logistics hub, which creates new jobs and more added value for the companies at the location. With the rail customs corridor, the busy port of Trieste is to be relieved in the future. Some of the incoming containers are then loaded directly from the ship onto the rails in Trieste and processed from the customs declaration in Fürnitz and then redistributed nationally and internationally.

History

In 2018 the SmartLogi project was approved as an Interreg project (Italy-Austria). The aim of the project was to improve administrative and ICT processes in sustainable multimodal transport options. The project partners (including LCA Logistik Center Austria Süd GmbH, Port of Trieste, Province of Carinthia, Regions Venetia and Friuli-Venezia Giulia) agreed on the implementation of a pilot project to eliminate technical barriers and optimal use of the existing infrastructure and further development of the topic of customs clearance in freight transport. The “Rail Customs Corridor” project started at this point and received strong political support. Right from the start, RCA was heavily involved as a relevant player and transport service provider. After the signing of the MoU on the occasion of the celebration of 300 years of the port of Trieste and the commitment to greater networking between the port and the railways, the topic of the rail customs corridor became a central element in the development of the logistics location in Fürnitz.

What is a rail customs corridor

This is a customs railway corridor between two bonded warehouses (Port of Trieste and Villach South). Containers can be loaded onto the railroad to Villach Süd|Fürnitz directly from the ship without customs procedures and interim storage in the port of Trieste, in order to be cleared for customs in Fürnitz and inspected if necessary.
The goods can either be unloaded at the terminal, transferred to trucks or transported further by rail.

Benefits for the customer

• At the customer’s request, containers can be loaded directly from the ship onto the train without going through customs in the port of Trieste
• Customs clearance takes place electronically during transport.
• In the event of capacity bottlenecks in the port of Trieste, containers can be transported quickly and do not have to be stored temporarily to wait for customs clearance.
• The customer decides whether the goods are declared in Trieste or Fürnitz.
• This results in a price and time advantage. The interim storage in Trieste is more expensive than in Fürnitz, long storage times in the port and the associated fees are eliminated, since the goods are loaded straight away in the direction of Villach Süd|Fürnitz.

 

Requirements

• Fast loading at the port
• Traffic that can be planned (intermittent traffic) by railway companies
• Short throughput times on the Trieste-Villach Süd (Fürnitz) route with the shortest possible stop at the border
• Rapid processing and inspection in Villach Süd | Fürnitz
• sufficient space and human resources
• an attractive price policy in Fürnitz

Political goals

The rail customs corridor offers the state of Carinthia, the Friuli region, the LCA-Süd and the ÖBB a unique opportunity, as part of an innovative EU project and as a direct partner of the port of Trieste, to set significant economic impulses for the location and to develop cooperation in the underpin the Alpe-Adria region politically.

Targets for location & region

  • Strengthening of the competitiveness of the Villach Süd location and the logistics location of Carinthia in general thanks to the customs corridor that is unique in Europe
    Introduction of the shuttle service between Trieste and Villach Süd
  • Creation of an attractive transport offer for existing and future Intermodal customers
  • Creation of added value and jobs
    o by investing in necessary infrastructure expansion
    o by utilizing the existing infrastructure facilities
    o by increasing the capacity of existing infrastructure
  • Attractiveness of the location for potential new settlements and cooperations

Goals for stakeholders & environment

  • Strengthening the competitiveness of rail transport
  • Support for the modal shift – the customs corridor offer is only available to rail customers
  • Reduction of the ecological impact of the transport industry (rail -> road)
  • Relief of capacity in the port of Trieste
  • Positioning of Carinthia and Austria as innovation drivers in the field of logistics, as such a project has never been implemented in Europe before.

LCA Logistik Center Austria Süd GmbH is the coordinator of the innovative project.