Six 750-metre-long sidings are open to accommodate 740-metre-long freight trains.
Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel has reopened the Mercator freight yard at the Ghent seaport after modifying sides to accommodate 740-metre-long freight trains.
Mercator Square is the second busiest square in the port after Gent-Seehafen Square. It serves nearby industries including the large Volvo car plant, DFDS Ferries and Arcelor Mittal. The Volvo plant is served by Lineas, which operates up to two trains a day bringing car parts from Älmhult, Sweden.
The redesign of Mercator Square, which opened in 1996, involved extending six sides by 750 meters each, at a cost of €12.5 million, of which €4 million was funded by the federal government and the rest by the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Fund.
The square saw a steady increase in traffic, reaching more than 4,000 train movements in 2022, when the decision was made to reconfigure the square and increase its capacity. The square retains three additional sides, ranging in length from 500 to 600 metres.
The Mercator Square was officially reopened by Matthias Diependel, President of the Flanders Region, in the presence of Benoît Gilson, CEO of Infrabel, and Eric Ockenborg, CEO of Lineas.
Infrabel will soon begin another phase of works at the yard, which will enhance capacity and safety, including the installation of signals and the commissioning of remote points. It is scheduled for completion in 2029 and is part of a strategy to increase the rail share in the port from 10 to 15%.
“This infrastructure is essential and provides more capacity in the city of Ghent, which is the engine of the Belgian economy,” says Gilson. “This investment will contribute to a paradigm shift and is positive for the environment.”
