A review and analysis of the investment in, and cost structure of, intermodal rail terminals

Figures & data

Figure 1. Overview of possible intermodal rail terminal functions in a rail network. Source: Based on Bontekoning (2006).

Table 1. Intermodal rail terminal types distinguished according to volume.

Name	TEU/ILU volume
1. XXL-terminal	>500,000
2. XL-terminal	100,000–500,000
3. L-terminal	30,000–100,000
4. M-terminal	10,000–30,000
5. S-terminal	<10,000

Source: Adapted from Wiegmans et al. (1999).

Table 2. Overview of terminal characteristics.

Characteristics	Small 10,000	Small 20,000	Medium 50,000	Large 100,000	XL 500,000
Area	4 ha	4 ha	6 ha	10 ha	40 ha
Rail track(s)	1 (700 m)	2 (700 m)	3 (700 m)	6 (700 m)	12 (700 m)
Realisation cost	Total infra, pavement	Total infra, pavement	Total infra, pavement	Total infra, pavement	Total infra, pavement
Crane	0	0	1	2	2
Reach stackers	2	3	3	6	6
Rail connection	1	1	1	1	1
Fence	1000 m	1200 m	1500 m	2500 m	3000 m
IT systems	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount
Office	Shed, 200 m^2	Shed, 200 m^2	Shed, 400 m^2	Shed, 750 m^2	Shed, 750 m^2
Lighting poles	4	4	4	20	50
Prorail fee	Rail access	Rail access	Rail access	Rail access	Rail access
Employees	3 fte	6 fte	10 fte	18 fte	25 fte
Manager	0.4 fte	1.0 fte	1.0 fte	2.0 fte	3.0 fte
Electricity	kWh	kWh	kWh	kWh	kWh
Fuel	Diesel (hl)	Diesel (hl)	Diesel (hl)	Diesel (hl)	Diesel (hl)
Guards	2 persons	2 persons	2 persons	2 persons	2 persons
Interest	4% of total assets	4% of total assets	4% of total assets	4% of total assets	4% of total assets
Licenses	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount
Insurance	Staff + cargo	Staff + cargo	Staff + cargo	Staff + cargo	Staff + cargo
Administration costs	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount
Taxes	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount	Fixed amount
Maintenance	5% of assets	5% of assets	5% of assets	5% of assets	5% of assets

Sources: www.funda.nl and Huiskamp (2011).

Table 3. Overview of handling cost in the IRT literature.

Source	Handling cost in scientific papers
Newman and Yano (2000)	$1–2 per container
Van Duin and Van Ham (2001)	Range: €14–68/TEU; average: €40/TEU
Arnold et al. (2004)	The relative cost of rail (compared with road) is assumed €0.65 per km and the transhipment cost is equivalent to 100 km
Bontekoning (2006)	€35 per ILU (average market price)
Jourquin and Limbourg (2007) and Limbourg and Jourquin (2009, 2010)	(Un)loading cost of €1.297/ton (an average TEU weighs about 15–16 tons)
Bhattacharya et al. (2014)	$70–100 per container
Zhang and Facanha (2014)	$40 per FEU
Source	Handling cost in grey literature
www.ectvenlo.nl (2001)	Transport (Rotterdam-Venlo) and container handling: ‘20 < 14.5 ton or empty €64 ‘20 > 14.5 ton €85 ‘30/40 full or empty €95 ‘45 full or empty €126
RECORDIT project (Black et al., 2002)	€36–60 per handling
REORIENT project (Vold, 2007)	€45 per handling
BELOGIC project (Bozuwa et al., 2011)	€40 per TEU
RIRDC (2007) reported from Victorian Department of Infrastructure (2003)	$15 per lift

Note: FEU, forty feet equivalent unit.

Figure 2. Cost structure for an investor in terminal infrastructure. Source: Adapted from Wiegmans, Masurel, and Nijkamp (1999).

Figure 3. Decreasing, constant, and increasing RTS. Source: Adapted from Hensher and Brewer (2001).

Table 4. Intermodal rail terminal assets.

Cost drivers – assets rail terminal	Newly built/installed		Maintenance		Unit
	Supply lump sum	Labour	Supply p/annum	Labour	1/unit
Tracks (on shunting yard as well as handling area)	€500–700	N/A	€50–80	N/A	m
Handling area	€30–50	N/A	€10–15	N/A	m^2
Storage area	€30–50	N/A	€10–20	N/A	m^2
Handling equipment (L-terminal)	€2–3 million	N/A	€100–150k	N/A	Unit
Storing equipment (if applicable), L-terminal	€0.5–2 million	N/A	€50–100k	N/A	Unit
Terminal entrance (truck loading – unloading facilities)	€0.5–1.0 million	N/A	€50–80	N/A	m^2
Office and terminal staff (average rate)	N/A	€70	N/A	€45	€/h
Terminal management soft- and hardware	€200–500k	N/A		N/A	Unit

Source: www.funda.nl and Huiskamp (2011).

Note: N/A = not available. European prices, excluding VAT, index 2010 = 100.

Table 5. The cost per intermodal rail terminal type.

Name	TEU volume	Infrastructure	Terminal area	Equipment	Realisation costs (total infra, ground breaking and equipment) € million
1. XL	500,000	12 tracks	40 ha	23 million	138
2. L	100,000	6 tracks	10 ha	13 million	47
3. M	30,000	3 tracks	6 ha	3 million	9.5
4. S2	20,000	2 tracks	4 ha	1.5 million	5.5
5. S1	10,000	1 track	4 ha	1 million	3.5

Source: Wiegmans et al. (1999) and Huiskamp (2011).

Figure 4. Handling costs of a small IRT with maximum capacity of 10,000 ILUs. Handling costs are depicted for handling 6000 (60% capacity filling) up to 10,000 (100% capacity filling) ILUs.

Figure 5. Handling costs of a small IRT with a maximum capacity of 20,000 ILUs. Handling costs are depicted for handling 12,000 (60% capacity filling) up to 20,000 (100% capacity filling) ILUs.

Figure 6. Handling costs of a medium IRT with a maximum capacity of 30,000 ILUs. Handling costs are depicted for handling 20,000 (67% capacity filling) up to 30,000 (100% capacity filling) ILUs.

Figure 7. Handling costs of a large IRT with a maximum capacity of 100,000 ILUs. Handling costs are depicted for handling 60,000 (60% capacity filling) up to 100,000 (100% capacity filling) ILUs.

Figure 8. Handling costs of an XL IRT with a maximum capacity of 500,000 ILUs. Handling costs are depicted for handling 300,000 (60% capacity filling) up to 500,000 (100% capacity filling) ILUs.

Figure 9. Handling costs of all five IRTs assuming 60–100% capacity. Handling costs are depicted for handling (60% capacity filling) to (100% capacity filling) ILUs.

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