One logistics group: Business divisions of the HGK Group

Business Divisions of the HGK Group

Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG - HGK for short - has developed from a municipal port and regional railway company in the Cologne area into a logistics group operating throughout Europe with five specialised business divisions and a comprehensive range of services.

Through its subsidiary and associate companies, the HGK Group has operations that include the largest inland port association and one of the largest private freight railways in Germany, specialised logistics facilities and terminals and its own regional rail network and workshop facilities for rail freight vehicles. HGK Shipping is the largest inland navigation company in Europe.

Business Divisions

HGK Logistics and Intermodal

The Logistics and Intermodal segment combines the companies of neska Schifffahrts- und Speditionskontor GmbH, which has been part of HGK Group since 2015.

With about 800 employees, this segment offers a wide range of modern logistics services, organized in the business units “Logistics” and “Intermodal”. The core services of the 20 locations in Germany and the Netherlands include the transport, handling and storage of containers, bulk and general cargo as well as comprehensive logistics services in the freight forwarding business. Particular competence clusters are in areas that include paper, aluminium, ore and steel and in the storage of hazardous substances.

HGK Shipping

HGK Shipping is the leading inland waterway shipping company in Europe. With a fleet of more than 350 owned and chartered barges, HGK Shipping moves some 36 million tonnes of freight each year. With its focus of operations on the Rhine and its tributaries and the associated canal network, the company connects the most important industrial regions of the Benelux countries, France and Germany. HGK Shipping is a leading partner to industry in the areas of dry shipping, gas shipping and liquid chemical shipping and in ship management.

HGK Rail Operations

HGK Rail Operations stands for sustainable railway freight transport within the HGK Group. Operational implementation is carried out by our associated company RheinCargo, one of the largest private rail freight companies in Germany. Each year RheinCargo transports some 19 million tonnes of freight, with direct connections in Germany and in the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.

HGK Infrastructure and Maintenance

The Infrastructure and Maintenance division bundles HGK's many years of expertise as an operator of track systems and rail networks as well as the maintenance of locomotives and freight wagons.

Infrastructure: HGK operates an extensive rail network in the Cologne region. We are responsible for important connections between the ports, rail freight depots and major industrial hubs in and around Cologne. Additionally, every day thousands of people travel on HGK´s local public transport rail network between Cologne, the Rhine-Sieg district and the Rhein-Erft district.

Maintenance: HGK operates a modern workshop for rail vehicles at Brühl-Vochem. There, all maintenance and repair works for locomotives and wagons of many different railway companies are carried out. This includes also mobile service options for customers on their premises.

HGK Real Estate

As the owner of the ports in Cologne and former and current railway operating areas, HGK has numerous properties available in Cologne and the surrounding region. In addition, HGK develops logistical infrastructures and logistics areas in the Rhineland.

With the Fusion Cologne project, HGK is developing an innovative, sustainable industrial and logistics area in the north of Cologne with an overall area of up to 55 hectares and with direct bimodal transport access.