News

North Sea Port allocates rail zone in Ghent for five companies to Lineas

Published on Thu 25 Sep 2025

Belgian rail operator Lineas has been awarded the first rail zone in North Sea Port following a tender procedure. This allocation marks an important step towards more efficient and sustainable freight transport by rail in the Ghent section of the port.

In May 2025, North Sea Port launched its first group procurement for rail transport, at the request of the companies involved. A total of five companies are jointly purchasing their rail services in order to make them more transparent, reliable and efficient. These companies are located on the left bank of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal: PVS, Eastman Chemical, EOC Belgium nv, KRONOS Europe, and a logistics subsidiary of ArcelorMittal.

The collaboration with Lineas will commence on 1 January 2026 and will run for a period of two years.

Towards 15% rail transport

With this group procurement, North Sea Port is taking a step towards its strategic objective of increasing the share of rail in the modal split from 10% to 15%. Pooling volumes not only generates economies of scale, but also highlights where further operational improvements are possible. These will be addressed in cooperation with Belgian rail infrastructure operator Infrabel and the partners involved.

Cooperation with Port of Antwerp-Bruges

In this process, North Sea Port acted as a neutral party between the companies and the potential rail operators. The port authority worked closely with Railport, a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, which already has experience with multiple rail tenders.