The system loads containers at record speed within a few minutes. Goods thus reach customers faster. The aim is to make rail freight transport more attractive. With the new container station, DB is ensuring more freight traffic on the environmentally friendly railways: the MegaHub Lehrte puts together up to 13 freight trains per day - that corresponds to around 250,000 truck journeys and 120,000 tons of_CO2 saved per year. The federal government and DB have invested 171 million euros in the new container station.

DB Board Member for Infrastructure Ronald Pofalla: "Shifting transportation to environmentally friendly rail is one of the most effective and simplest climate protection measures of all. Freight can be handled faster in Lehrte than anywhere else in Germany. With every train that starts here, we take 52 trucks off the road and thus automatically save_CO2."

Enak Ferlemann, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Federal Government Commissioner for Rail Transport: "The clear policy of the federal government is to shift traffic from road to rail. This requires state-of-the-art transhipment facilities. The MegaHub in Lehrte is a state-of-the-art facility and is a symbol of this policy. It serves as a model for many other facilities in Germany."

Lower Saxony's Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour, Transport and Digitalization, Dr Bernd Althusmann: "The new MegaHub is one of the most innovative projects in freight transport - this underlines Lower Saxony's outstanding position as the logistics heart of Europe. The hub will strengthen the competitiveness of climate-friendly rail and further increase Lower Saxony's attractiveness as a logistics location."

How the MegaHub works
Video gates detect train and truck loads as they enter the 120,000 square meter site. Three 20-metre-high cranes and twelve autonomous, electrically powered transporters sort the containers to suit the freight trains. A central computer controls the loading and reloading of the containers. The MegaHub works particularly quietly and saves energy: incoming trains use their momentum as they enter and roll directly under the cranes without electricity. The system offers expansion potential for twice as many cranes and up to 20 transport vehicles.