Rijeka Gateway: one year on
A 15-minute average truck turnaround, new rail links to Serbia, Hungary and Austria, and more than 370,000 TEU handled. Since opening a year ago, Rijeka Gateway has provided customers with more reliable routes to market.
A year ago, the Port of Rijeka gained a modern container terminal built to move goods faster and more predictably through Central and South-Eastern Europe. A year on, the impact is measurable on the routes that now exist, the volumes it enables and the jobs created in the local and regional economy.
New routes
Before Rijeka Gateway opened, exporters and importers across the region had fewer direct options for moving goods to and from Central Europe by sea. That's changed: regular rail services now connect the terminal to Serbia, Hungary and Graz, Austria, giving businesses in those markets a shorter, more direct route to global shipping lines than previously existed through Rijeka. A feeder network to the Italian ports of Trieste, Venice, Ravenna and Ancona adds further reach across the Adriatic and Mediterranean, with additional connections to Durrës and Ploče expected shortly.
The terminal is now a regular port of call on the Gemini AE12/SE1 service, linking major Asian ports directly with the Mediterranean and Adriatic, putting regional exporters closer to global markets than a year ago. Through cooperation with Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, Rijeka has also become a transhipment hub for cargo moving to and from Italy, adding a new option into an already competitive market.
More than 1,000 trains have run since the terminal opened, with rail now carrying 53% of all cargo, a big shift toward lower-emission inland transport for businesses moving goods through the region. A new weekly service to Graz, added in June, opened the terminal's first direct operational link with Austria, extending Croatia's trade reach further into Central Europe.
Speed and reliability
For the customers that move goods through Rijeka daily, the difference shows up at the gate. Average truck processing time is now around 15 minutes, with a best-recorded turnaround of just 10 minutes, achieved on a day when more than 500 trucks passed through. That's time back for every driver and every customer relying on tight delivery schedules.
The terminal has processed around 80,000 truck visits since opening, now averaging more than 250 a day and handling as many as 600 on peak days, without turnaround times slipping. A fully digitalised gate process, using the Conroo driver app and the Truck Appointment System for scheduling, means less waiting and more predictable planning for the businesses that depend on the terminal.
Reliability extends to the water as well: 98% operational crane availability and 99% system availability over the year mean fewer delays and more predictable vessel calls for shipping lines and their customers. Parallel berthing for smaller feeder vessels has also cut vessel waiting times, adding flexibility for carriers serving the region.
Jobs and skills development
Rijeka Gateway now employs 422 people, with 260 hires made since operations began September 2025. One in five roles is held by women, including crane and vehicle operators, reflecting a deliberate push to widen access to careers in an industry that has traditionally been male-dominated.
That growth has come with sustained investment in local skills: more than 92,000 hours of training were delivered in the first year alone, on top of an intensive 130,000-hour preparation programme before launch. This capability stays in the region regardless of what moves through the terminal in any given year.
Sustainable operations
Despite running 24/7, the terminal's maintenance team recorded zero lost-time injuries over the year, supported by more than 950 safety walks and inspections — a safety standard that matters to every driver, contractor and visitor who passes through the site.
The terminal also achieved ISO 14001:2015 environmental certification in its first year, and its growing rail share is a direct, measurable shift toward lower-emission freight movement for the region. Locally, partnerships with the Faculty of Maritime Studies and the University of Rijeka are giving students real exposure to modern port careers, while a second year of kindergarten workshops has introduced more than 150 local children to the world of ports and logistics.
Looking ahead
Expansion of the Zagreb–Rijeka rail line is a prerequisite for sustained intermodal growth in the region, and development of the rail infrastructure is in its early design phase. This is expected to shift even more freight onto lower-emission routes in the years ahead.
Extending the reach of Rijeka Gateway this first year has already opened up for exporters and importers across the region, and regional feeder services to the Northern Adriatic Italian market as well as South Adriatic ports will be a foundation for new and additional business opportunities.