Baltic Hub has commissioned two new electric rail-mounted gantry cranes at its Gdańsk container terminal, raising annual rail siding capacity to 1.2 million TEU.

The Polish operator, which runs the Baltic Sea's largest container facility, brings its rail-siding fleet to six handling units. Those units serve seven 750-metre tracks running a combined 5.25 kilometres across the terminal. Each new crane carries an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system for automatic container number identification, an anti-collision package, and 11 onboard cameras feeding cabin consoles.

"Baltic Hub consistently invests in advanced technological solutions and expands its operational facilities to strengthen nodal excellence, increase flexibility and adapt to evolving market requirements," CEO Jan van Mossevelde said.

What does the new fleet change in practice?

Each of the two new RMG cranes supports a target throughput the terminal can now publish: 1.2 million TEU per year moved by rail. Baltic Hub already handles nearly 800 trains per month through its sidings, a baseline the additional units are designed to absorb without laying more track.

The cranes form part of a wider capacity programme. In late 2025, Baltic Hub completed a quay expansion that lifted total annual container capacity at the Gdańsk site to 4.5 million TEU. The new rail cranes extend the share of that throughput that can depart the terminal by train rather than by road. The terminal frames this as a deliberate sequencing: maritime capacity first, then the rail-siding equipment that lets a larger share of containers reach the hinterland without a truck.

How does the technology fit in?

• The OCR system reads container codes automatically as the RMG cranes traverse the rail yard.
• Anti-collision sensors prevent crane-to-crane interference and stop the units from conflicting with rail vehicles entering the siding corridor.
• Eleven cameras per crane deliver real-time video to operators supervising lifts from cabin positions.

Why does Gdańsk matter for hinterland flows?

The port of Gdańsk has climbed into the top tier of European container gateways over the past decade, a rise tied closely to Baltic Hub's phased expansion. Baltic Hub frames its rail capacity as a building block for intermodal transport across Central and Eastern Europe, a positioning it has repeated across recent expansion phases.

Each additional TEU shifted by rail from the terminal replaces a road movement, a trade-off that has shaped the operator's sequencing of quay and rail investments. The terminal's combined stack of 4.5 million TEU annual quay capacity and 1.2 million TEU rail-siding capacity sets the ceiling for how much maritime throughput can move inland by train from the site in the near term.

What comes next?

"The deployment of two additional RMG cranes is another step towards this goal and expresses our support for the development of sustainable intermodal transport," van Mossevelde said. "The RMG cranes will play a key role in increasing the handling capacity of the rail siding to 1.2 million TEUs per year. Each of these investments strengthens Baltic Hub's position as a key logistics hub in Central and Eastern Europe."

Baltic Hub has not named the manufacturer of the two new RMG cranes in materials accompanying the commissioning. The operator has also not published a delivery date for further rail-siding equipment or a revised monthly train-handling target. Operators will measure the climb toward 1.2 million TEU per year against the existing baseline of nearly 800 train services each month.