HHLA repair unit moved 20,000 TEU of empty boxes by rail from Hamburg
Block trains of up to 720 metres carry 100 boxes to southern Germany and Austria
Hamburg Container and Chassis Repair Company moved around 20,000 TEU of empty containers by rail from its Hamburg depot to the hinterland during 2025, and expects rail volumes to keep growing through 2026.
Customers of the HHLA subsidiary are increasingly consolidating large batches of empty boxes at the Altenwerder Damm depot for loading onto block trains, which reduces the number of truck movements through the Port of Hamburg and on German motorways.
The rail operation was made possible by reviving a siding at the site that had previously been decommissioned. The company recommissioned the track in 2015 and completed a comprehensive refurbishment in 2022, since when rail volumes have risen steadily. The facility can handle block trains of up to 720 metres carrying 100 containers at a time.
The moves are carried out for shipping lines, freight forwarders and container leasing companies, mainly to southern Germany and Austria. Inspected and repaired empties are used particularly by automotive companies and their suppliers to load export goods, and the laden boxes are then routed back through Hamburg for transfer to seagoing vessels.
That round trip is the commercial logic of the operation. Empty repositioning is a cost with no freight revenue attached to it, so moving the boxes inland by rail rather than road lowers the unit cost of putting equipment where the export cargo actually is, and the return leg carries paying cargo back to the quay.
The company specialises in container-related services including inspection, repair and cleaning, container trading, specialised steel structures, and the cleaning and repair of road tanks and tank containers. It also maintains refrigeration units used in reefer containers, as well as buildings, handling equipment and motor vehicles. HHLA is the parent company and conducts port logistics and hinterland transport activities.
