Record numbers reveal continued growth at Rosslare Europort
STANDING at the viewing point overlooking Rosslare Europort, it’s clear to see things are busy. Huge ships come and go, trucks roll on and roll off and trailers are carried off and parked within the facility. It’s become a serious operation.
The latest figures issued by Ianród Éireann show just how serious as it was revealed that the port had exceeded 200,000 freight units for the first time ever. That wasn’t the extent of the good news either, as management stated that “passenger numbers have made almost a full post-Covid recovery”.
The freight figures passing through are simply unprecedented and are the largest in the port’s history. The figures show that overall in the past two years freight at Rosslare has grown cumulatively by 53%, with a 398% increase in continental trade. 2022 also saw the port secure a new twice weekly direct service to Zeebrugge with Finnlines, part of the Grimaldi group. In fact, rumours are circulating that following the success of this route, Finnlines may even be looking at increasing frequency.
On the passenger front, it was stated that over 550,000 people used the port last year – a 128% increase on 2021 and just 5% behind where things were pre-pandemic. This is welcome news and hopes are high that routes to France etc will prove popular with tourists travelling both ways. However, questions still remain over the facilities that greet travellers when they arrive at Rosslare. Despite the growth of recent years, the terminal building remains a shadow of its former self and public transport links to and from the Europort could do with some work.