Koper port opens new lorry terminal

Slovenia's sole commercial port has inaugurated a new €13 million lorry terminal which is to make logistics at the Koper port more efficient and ease the traffic flow in the city.

The new terminal in the Sermin area replaces the old one that is located closer to the city centre, and will link directly to the A1 motorway once the access road is built.

Featuring parking spaces for 203 lorries, the terminal has been operational since the start of the year and was officially inaugurated on 10 January.

Nevenka Kržan, CEO of the port operator Luka Koper, described the upgrade as an important milestone in the port's development and one of its major investments.

The company secured €5 million for the investment from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility with Kržan saying the port was committed to its strategy of becoming the first port of choice on the southern European transport route.

More investments in pipeline

The strategy foresees €780 million in investment until 2028 in a bid to increase the throughput; the container terminal is expected to increase its annual throughput from current 1.1 million TEU to 1.7 million TEU.

One major project Kržan mentioned is the electrification of the quays, as ships will have to be powered from shore beyond 2029.

Luka Koper is also planning to build a passenger terminal and is already building a new multi-storey car park and car transshipment facilities. By summer it will publish the biggest call to tender in its history to extend the north section of Quay 1.

Last year the company set a new record by handling 900,000 vehicles, surpassing the previous record from 2022 by almost 100,000 units. It also performed well in other segments, including container and passenger terminals.

Upgrade in infrastructure beyond the port

Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek finds the investment in the new lorry terminal important for the whole of Slovenia since logistics is one of the key economic sectors.

Under the new traffic regime at the port, nearly 50% of lorries enter the port through the main entrance, 15% use the Sermin access and 38% the Bertoki gate.

Bratušek said the road linking the new terminal to the A1 motorway is to be completed by 2026. The development permit has been acquired but is yet to become final.

She also talked about siting procedures for an additional track on the new Divača-Koper railway, saying they were ongoing and pledging it would be double-tracked as soon as possible.

The new link between Koper and the Divača railway junction is to open to traffic in 2026 and is to cut the distance compared to the current railway and increase the maximum throughput capacity from 94 to 212 trains daily.