The Corridor D project (Valencia-Lyon-Turin-Ljubljana-Budapest) is seeking to promote the establishment of an efficient rail freight transport axis in Europe. Modal shift from road to rail for goods transport is thus encouraged to reach the EU sustainable development objectives.
For facilitating the corridor coordination, railway infrastructure managers ADIF (Spain), RFF (France), RFI (Italy) and SZ (Slovenia) established in 2007 the European Economic Interest Group (EEIG). Hungarian company MAV and TP Ferro, among other interested railway companies, have joined EEIG. Corridor D targets consist in developing technical interoperability. Infrastructure managers and the ministries involved in the project agreed to implement the 2.3.0d version of the ERTMS by 2016. The ERTMS development has already begun in Spain with the new line Barcelona-Figueras. Works on pilot lines in Italy and Slovenia and the on-board installation of the ERTMS began in 2009. The end purpose is providing better services by coordinating investments between countries, levelling up norms and improving offers, especially at cross-borders – EEIG works closely with the existing bi-national committees (France/Italy, Slovenia/Hungary) and with RailNetEurope (RNE).
In order to implement the ERTMS over a 3,000-km long route, it is necessary to consider the specific characteristics of all five countries involved. The migration of existing control systems towards a single ERTMS system will take place gradually. Therefore, Spain began the ERTMS implementation in 2009 and will finalize it in 2013, France will begin in 2011, finalization being due in 2016-2018, Italy began in 2009 and will end in 2014, Slovenia began in 2008 and will finalize in 2014, while Hungary began in 2009 with finalization due in 2015.
High-quality freight transport
The multi-annual TEN-T programme 2007-2013 allocates EUR 500 Million to ERTMS implementation. Thus, in 2007, EUR 21 Million were allocated to the ERTMS implementation on Corridor D. Corridor D has a major importance as it is part of the idea of promoting a “European rail network giving priority to freight” with a view to energising transport of goods by rail in Europe and increasing its efficiency. The establishment of such a network will contribute to developing sustainable mobility, encouraging the modal shift from road to rail, fully compliant with the European Union policy.
Facilitating connections between maritime and land transport is one of the major challenges in creating a network dedicated to rail freight transport. The maritime port of Marseilles, which benefits from a favourable location on Corridor D, is a successful example.
By ensuring a greater fluidity and better services on Valencia-Budapest rail route, the Corridor D project will help improve performances and increase the market share of rail freight transport.
Freight transport demand at national and international level could significantly grow by 2020. Elaborated studies estimate an annual growth of 3.7% to 7.8% for the five countries involved in the project, with few differences from one country to another. Considering corridor D and cross border traffic, the evolution could be higher; 6 % annual growth between Spain and France, 6 % annual growth between France and Italy (not counting the Lyon-Turin project). Multiplication by 10 of the tonnage from 2004 to 2020 between Italy and Slovenia is expected, as well as the multiplication by 6 of the tonnage from 2004 to 2020 between Slovenia and Hungary. To meet this demand, rail transport will have to provide a service that constantly improves its efficiency, especially regarding journey times, reliability and capacity.
In September 2009, the contract for the implementation of the ERTMS on French lines was awarded to Alstom Transport. The ERMS installation will cover the French sections of Corridors D and C, first of all on pilot lines and then on all the 2,200 km by 2018.
In December 2009, Italy finalized the basis on its high-speed network, so that 1,000 km between Turin, Milan, Naples, Salerno are now equipped with new technologies and almost 650 km with ERTMS Level 2. Italians seek to install the ERTMS on more than 1,500 km of conventional lines by 2015, 650 km of which on Corridor D.
Facts and figures
-a 3,000-km long route;
-5 countries involved: Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary;
-a route interconnected with corridor C (Anvers-Basel-Lyon), A (Rotterdam-Genoa), B (Stockholm-Naples) and E (Dresden-Budapest);
-an annual growth of 6% in goods traffic between France and Spain by 2020, two times more than currently;
-cross-border freight traffic between France and Italy will triple;
-in Italy, a high-speed passenger transport connection;
-in Slovenia, Corridor D amounts to
90% of freight traffic;
-4.5 times more cargo trains between Slovenia and Hungary.
by Elena Ilie
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