Author: Łukasz Kuś 2026/04/03
The intermodal industry is a driving force behind the development of small towns and municipalities
Intermodal transport is not just a development direction for sustainable logistics… the industry has repeatedly proven to be a driving force for modern industry and services, and the availability of container terminals in the region is a significant advantage, considered in the decision-making process for large investment projects. An example of its positive impact on the development of smaller and medium-sized urban centers is one of the largest land-based intermodal hubs in Poland – the PCC Intermodal terminal in Kutno.
Kutno is a medium-sized city in Poland. A transshipment terminal was opened here 15 years ago. The project was built on the European E20 railway line, approximately 1.5 km from the A1 motorway. This container transshipment center, with daily departures of container trains to the Netherlands, Germany, Polish ports, the south of the country, and Ukraine, has strengthened the region's position on the European transport map, simultaneously introducing the TSL industry to a new dimension of container traffic organization to, from, and through Poland.
The availability of intermodal transport is crucial for the green transformation of logistics and equalizing regional development opportunities. The importance of this mode of transport has been emphasized in European Union policy, and the latest Regulation on the TEN-T Guidelines identifies intermodality as one of the most important priorities in transport policy. An important goal for implementation is to expand the network of terminals in regions that have not yet had them.
The importance of building intermodal terminals not only in the hinterland of seaports and large urban areas, but also in smaller urban centers, can be seen in Kutno. This city of 45,000 inhabitants in the Łódź Voivodeship has become a significant logistics hub thanks to PCC Intermodal, which opened a container terminal there in 2011. In subsequent years, a strong industrial production and logistics services center has developed in and around the city, benefiting from the availability of sustainable combined transport.
Strategic location of the PCC terminal
Kutno's advantage as a location for an intermodal terminal, from the perspective of a logistics operator and rail container transport organizer, is its place on the European transport map. The city is located in central Poland, on the E20 main line—one of the most important railway routes in Poland for intermodal transport, connecting the east and west—and in the immediate vicinity of the A1 motorway. In addition to the Warsaw-Western Border line (E20), the Kutno railway junction also includes lines leading to Toruń (and the Tricity), Płock, and Łódź. It was precisely this location, near key railway routes and close to the center of the country, that led PCC Intermodal to choose this city as its investment location several years ago.
"Back then, terminals were typically built near larger urban areas. PCC Intermodal had the bold vision of locating the terminal not near a major urban center, but at the intersection of major rail and road routes. The terminal was intended to serve, and still does, as a hub for train transshipment on the north-south and east-west axis, as well as serving local and regional customers in central Poland," says Wojciech Skrzypiński, director of the PCC Kutno terminal.
The decision to choose this location for the new terminal proved to be a great success. In its first full year of operation, the new facility achieved its initially projected turnover of nearly 100,000 TEU. At that time, the decision was made to expand it. In subsequent years, the storage yard was doubled in size, and the number of rails was also doubled. In 2015, gantry cranes were installed at the terminal, transforming the way cargo handling operations are conducted and significantly increasing the facility's handling capacity.
"Initially, we operated with three reachstackers and a trolley for handling empty containers. In 2015, we began operating somewhat similarly to maritime terminals, meaning that trains were now operated by overhead cranes and the terminal yard by reachstackers. Another change occurred two years ago, when we assigned new remotely controlled RTG cranes to the terminal yard, and added a third gantry crane, also remotely operated, to the railway siding," says Wojciech Skrzypiński. Terminal tractors were also introduced.
The only hub of its kind in central Poland
Today, the PCC Intermodal Terminal in Kutno is one of the largest and most modern land-based transshipment facilities of its kind in Poland. Over 300,000 TEU are transshipped here annually. Each week, the terminal handles over 50 incoming and outgoing trains, as well as several hundred trucks daily. The terminal's network of regular rail connections includes Western European ports: Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Duisburg, Rotterdam, and Antwerp, for which Kutno serves as the Polish hub. Shipments from these ports are distributed at the PCC Intermodal terminal to trains bound for terminals in Brzeg Dolny, Gliwice, and Kolbuszowa. Some cargo from the west is distributed to local customers in the Kutno region. The terminal also operates regular connections with the ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia. It is therefore a facility that serves both as a transshipment hub and a feeder terminal for local customers, including retail chains, e-commerce and industrial companies.
An intermodal boost for the local economy
The creation of an intermodal terminal in Kutno not only enabled a modal shift in transport in the region, shifting cargo from road to sustainable rail transport, but also provided a boost to the local economy. The terminal is located within a subzone of the Łódź Special Economic Zone. In recent years, more than a dozen companies have invested here, building service facilities and factories. For some of these investors, access to a transshipment terminal was a key factor in their location selection, and today these companies use intermodal transport for both the export and import of raw materials and production components.
Read also:PCC Intermodal will build a new terminal in Ropczyce
The terminal's services are used by manufacturers from industries such as food and chemicals – important centers of this type of industry are located near Kutno, such as Płock and Włocławek. Special economic zones have been established along the A1 motorway, housing production plants from various industries, often using the intermodal solution we provide. The entire terminal in Kutno is a temporary storage warehouse, which is convenient for importers importing goods from outside the EU. The facility handles sea container transport as well as land-based intra-European transport," says Wojciech Skrzypiński.
PCC Intermodal also provides road transport services from the terminal to the customer's premises, and provides 45-foot containers for transport between Poland and other European countries.
The intermodal industry is a symbol of modal and mental change
As the terminal director emphasizes, in recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in intermodal transport among a growing number of companies. This is due to the stability and attractive offer of this type of transport, influenced by, among other things, the modernization of railway lines, but also innovations that make container transport more accessible. An example is the introduction of containers that can be loaded and unloaded from the side, which allows companies that previously transported goods only with tarpaulins and have the logistics infrastructure to accommodate them.
"Until recently, large companies, especially foreign ones, declared their intention to switch from long-distance road transport to intermodal transport. However, their decisions in this area were often delayed. Today, we see a trend of positive modal shift, especially in transport to and from Western Europe, where instead of a double-driver truck, goods can be shipped by container. Intermodal is flexible and offers refrigerated containers, side-opening units, tank containers, and other standardized container units adapted to various types of cargo. We see that logistics operators who for many years transported goods in semi-trailers are introducing containers with their own logos, which are used on trains running between Poland and Western Europe. This demonstrates that the way of thinking about logistics has changed in recent years – focused on optimization, seeking reliable, stable, and predictable solutions," notes Wojciech Skrzypiński.