Belarus has completed the modernisation of a container terminal in Brest. Located on the border with Poland, the city is a key entry point into Europe for rail freight traffic from China.
Construction work at the Brest–Belarus Customs Service-3 facility started in early 2024. More than two years later, the modernisation has been completed. The facility now covers 15 hectares, including a 2.2-hectare container terminal, according to Belarusian state media BELTA.
During the modernisation, Belarus created a “full-fledged transhipment hub” designed for “unhindered container transhipment from one gauge to the other”. At the Polish-Belarusian border, rail freight is transferred from broad-gauge tracks, used in Belarus and Russia, to standard-gauge tracks, which are common across Europe.
Key China–Europe rail location
The Brest-3 terminal now has 1.2km of rail infrastructure. Its 220-metre loading area can accommodate the transfer of 21 wagons on each gauge. The storage area has capacity for up to 945 TEU. “Here we can handle transhipments, coupling, and multimodal transportation, which is particularly advantageous given the current situation, where Brest is the number one location for the Europe-Asia logistics route,” commented Dmitriy Kovalenok, general director of the Belarusian Customs Service.
“We lacked capacity, so we invested in both access roads and ramps. In other words, we’ve significantly increased our capabilities. What’s unique is that here we can store goods, label them, transport them by road, and reload them onto rail. Depending on the available mode of transport, we can adapt various configurations and modalities on the fly to reduce logistics costs. Its main advantage is its multifunctionality, something Brest hasn’t had on such a scale before.”
2019 modernisation
In 2019, Belarus also modernised the nearby Brest-North container terminal. The container area was expanded to 5ha, with a 1,700-sqm loading area. The investment amounted to US$10m at the time.
Belarusian media did not disclose the investment cost of the Brest-3 modernisation.
