Polish Seaports Pivot to Accessibility and Infrastructure as Gdansk Baltic Hub Tops 2.7 Million TEUs
Poland's leading seaports are pivoting their strategic focus toward accessibility and multimodal connectivity after a period of record cargo volumes exposed the limitations of existing road, rail and border infrastructure. The shift, discussed at length at the European Economic Congress's session on Polish seaport challenges, signals that hub capacity alone cannot sustain growth without parallel investment in inland connections.
The Port of Gdansk closed 2025 with 80.4 million tonnes of cargo handled, a 4% year-on-year increase that could have been higher absent adverse winter conditions. The port's Baltic Hub container terminal recorded a particularly strong year, processing 2.7 million TEUs in 2025, up 23% from the previous year. Katarzyna Szczycińska, acting director of the Strategy and Development Department at the Port of Gdansk Authority, said the pace was difficult to match among European container terminals.
Momentum has carried into 2026 with a further 22% increase in Baltic Hub's first-quarter cargo handling. Planned expansion includes extending storage yards and quays alongside the construction of a second seven-track railway siding with 750-metre tracks. At full development, the terminal could handle close to 7 million TEUs annually, but Szczycińska emphasised that realising this potential depends on commensurate investment in rail and road infrastructure capable of moving containers efficiently to and from the port.
The hinterland constraint is creating cascading effects across Polish corridors. Border crossings near the EU's eastern frontier, wagon availability and port-to-inland rail capacity have become system bottlenecks at a time when all major hubs are growing simultaneously. Port authorities are moving these items to the front of their 2026-2030 investment plans to preserve the efficiency of pan-European routes such as the Berlin-Warsaw-Gdansk axis and the Baltic-Black Sea corridor.
Over the past three years, Poland has captured a meaningful share of container traffic that has shifted from Germany and the Netherlands, positioning itself as a next-generation gateway port for Baltic Europe. However, that gain may not be durable without multimodal resilience. As Asia-Europe trade continues to lean on Northern European main ports, the central question for 2026-2027 will be whether Poland can run hub investments and infrastructure investments in lockstep.
Key Takeaways:
1. Polish seaports declared accessibility and multimodal connectivity their top strategic priority after record cargo volumes.
2. Port of Gdansk closed 2025 at 80.4 million tonnes (+4%); Baltic Hub handled 2.7 million TEUs (+23%).
3. Baltic Hub posted a further 22% Q1 2026 growth; full development target is close to 7 million TEUs annually.
4. Expansion includes a second seven-track railway siding with 750-metre-long tracks alongside yard and quay extensions.
5. Eastern border crossings, wagon supply and port-to-hinterland rail capacity are the priorities of the 2026-2030 investment plan.
