Posted on October 18, 2021
Dublin Port Company (DPC) has today announced that Dublin Inland Port will open in early November 2021, with Dublin Ferryport Terminals (DFT) confirmed as the first company licenced to begin operating at the state-of-the-art facility in North Dublin, according to the company’s release.
The move will enable DFT, as the operator of one of the country’s largest container terminals, to increase its total throughput handling capacity at Dublin Port by 20%.
DPC has invested more than €48m to date acquiring and developing Dublin Inland Port on a 44-hectare site some 14km from Dublin Port, with direct access to the M50 and to Dublin Port via the Dublin Port Tunnel.
The opening of Dublin Inland Port delivers on a key commitment in DPC’s Masterplan 2040 to maximise the use of existing port lands by allowing port-related, but non-core activities – such as empty container storage – to be relocated away from Dublin Port.
The development at Dublin Inland Port will result in more efficient use of the Dublin Port Tunnel and of Dublin Port’s internal network by diverting HGVs dropping off or collecting empty containers to Dublin Inland Port.
The first operator at Dublin Inland Port is Dublin Ferryport Terminals (DFT). DFT has signed a 20-year lease with DPC to run a new five-hectare empty container depot at the facility. The empty container depot will be run under the brand name Dublin Ferryport Inland Depot (DFID).
DFT, owned by Irish Continental Group (ICG), is also the operator of one of Dublin Port’s three container terminals, identifiable by its red cranes.
DFT will relocate its current empty depot business to Dublin Inland Port from its container terminal in Dublin Port, thereby freeing up capacity to handle more full containers. The freed-up space at DFT will increase its capacity by 20% from the second half of 2022 after completion of further development at the terminal including the delivery of five new Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes.
