Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal (LGICT), the dry port unit of International Container Services Terminal Inc (ICTSI), has commenced building new facilities that might one day lead to a rail connection.
The Laguna dry port site, located in Calamba City, 58 km south of Metro Manila, will include extended and dedicated storage areas for loaded and empty containers, a runway for rubber tired gantries (RTGs), container care facilities, weigh bridges at the gates, and an upgraded access road, ICTSI said in a 19 May statement.
“It primes the Laguna dry port for the revival of intermodal freight transport in the Philippines,” the statement said.
Initially, the facility will have 4 ha of container yard operational and use reach stackers in hauling containers.
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The project, scheduled for completion by the end of the year, will add a fully developed 7.22 ha of concrete pavement, an RTG runway, and dedicated stacking areas for loaded and empty containers.
When fully developed, the 21 ha dry port will feature facilities for reefers, truck holding areas, a fuel station, a rail workshop, and container freight stations.
RTGs, side-lifters, prime mover trucks, and additional reach stackers are currently on order.
Laguna’s current annual capacity of 250,000 teu increases the capacity of ICTSI’s other big facility, Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), by 10%.
This figure could grow by even more if plans come to fruition to revive an existing railroad connection directly linking LGICT and MICT: the country’s largest container facility.
“It is a great aspiration that we have, not only to see this develop as an inland container terminal in today’s form, but also as an inland container terminal connected by rail to the country’s premier port in its future form,” said ICTSI vice-president Christian R Gonzalez. “I think this ambition that we have is something that requires congratulations at this point. Obviously, with all the hard work from all of us and the help of the government, we will make this a reality in the coming years.”
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
