Infrabel, together with Lineas, has completed the €12.5 million investment project, co-financed by the Belgian federal government and the European Union. The upgrade enables the handling of full 750-metre freight trains in the Mercator rail network, located near the Mercator dock between the John F. Kennedylaan and the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal.
The project focused on increasing the yard’s capacity, which had been under pressure from the nearly 4,000 train movements recorded in 2022. The new layout is expected to ease rail operations and offer more flexibility in train assembly and dispatch.
Bundel Mercator is considered the second most-used freight rail yard within the Port of Ghent and serves companies including Volvo Car Gent, ArcelorMittal, and DFDS. With the infrastructure upgrade, longer trains can now be assembled and depart directly from the yard, increasing the volume of goods moved by rail and shortening the distance to on-site industrial facilities. According to Infrabel, this can remove up to 50 trucks per train trip from the road network.
The investment amounts to approximately EUR 12.5 million (converted from around 12.5 million in local currency), and the new tracks are compliant with European standards related to freight train lengths. The upgrade is part of broader efforts aligned with the EU’s modal shift objectives, aimed at increasing rail’s share in freight transport across the continent.