From 1 January 2020, Salzburger EisenbahnTransportLogistik GmbH (SETG) will be responsible for operating the largest connecting railway at the AustroCel Hallein plant on weekdays. “We are increasingly using rail to supply raw materials and transport pulp and lignosulphonate,” explains AustroCel Hallein CEO Jörg Harbring.
To date, around 7,000 wagons have been handled by the connecting railway. They plan to shift even more transports to rail in order to make a valuable contribution to reducing emissions. AustroCel Hallein GmbH’s CEO DI Jörg Harbring: “SETG has been supporting us in our efforts to shift more transports to the railways for years with great commitment”.
The rail logistics specialist has already been present at the Hallein location for several years with the SINGLE-Link connection to Koper (Slovenia). In 2018 the haulage traffic from Upper Palatinate to Hallein was switched from trucks to block trains running three times a week.
SETG’s managing director and owner Gunther Pitterka says: “We are pleased to be able to expand the production area ‘connecting railway operation’ with a major order at our home base.” In addition to some 500 wagons, the company operates exactly 42 locomotives, ranging from the high-performance electric locomotive (BR 193 ‘Vectron’) to two-power electric/D locomotives (BR 187) and a diesel locomotive fleet for lines without overhead lines and connecting lines.
AustroCel Hallein GmbH currently employs more than 250 people and is the market leader in China for softwood textile pulp with a total turnover of EUR 146 million. In the previous year, more than 157,000 tonnes of viscose pulp were sold and 105 GWh of district heating and 95 GWh of green electricity were produced. The Hallein-based company thus not only supplies its own production with clean energy, but also 30,000 households with green electricity and 14,000 households with district heating.
