European integration of rail freight transport requires a completely functional and integrated European transport network. This means less traffic delays for freight transport operators, fewer losses and definitely less time at border crossings.
The interoperability of freight corridors depends to a great extent on the European Railway Transport Management System (ERTMS). Therefore, in 2006, the European Commission established six rail transport corridors to be equipped with the ERTMS, numbered from A to F. In 2009, it was established that these corridors were particularly addressed to rail freight transport.
Corridor F improves transport between Eastern and Western Europe
Corridor F has been developed to ease cargo transit on one of the most important routes which crosses Europe from East to West. The corridor connects Terespol (at the border of Poland with Belarus) via Warsaw, Poznan, Berlin, then crosses the Ruhr Basin to reach Aachen, in the most western part of Germany.
The route has been defined based on traffic and trade prospects, but also because it is the most convenient East-West route in Central Europe. The development of this corridor is mainly tasked with encouraging modal shift from road to rail goods transport, as well as reaching EU’s sustainable development targets. The six freight corridors to be entirely equipped with the ERTMS benefit from the financial support of the European Commission.
Apart from the EUR 260 Million already established funds, an additional EUR 240 Million have been granted from TEN-T co-financing funds. These corridors represent only 6% of the TEN-T length but carry 20% of the European freight traffic! Until the moment, Corridor F received financing approval for a EUR 9 Million project, thus amounting to almost 4% of the necessary value.
“By 2015, member states must equip important sections of the six corridors (over 9,000 km) and by 2020, these corridors must be completely equipped (an additional 5,500 km) and a number of key freight terminals should be connected to the six routes (nearly 10,000 km)”, the European Commission points out.
“Corridor F needs an improved integrated approach. To that end, the two countries have to join forces and to create joint management authorities that have not been established yet”, declared Karel Vinck, EU’s ERTMS Coordinator in his latest report on the evolution of these corridors, published on October 2009. However, cooperation between the two countries goes on well enough and according to declarations, this cooperation will result in the implementation of the ERTMS on a major part of the Corridor. The entire Corridor will be equipped with the ERTMS by 2020. The ERTMS 2.3.0 version is implemented with the possibility to shift to the 3.0.0 when possible. Works to a pilot line have already been initiated in Poland in 2009. Rail undertakings will also have to equip vehicles. To facilitate freight traffic between West and East, it has been recently decided to expand Corridor F to the ports of the North Sea, Anvers/Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. This step was taken after the intensification of commercial flows between the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland and the countries of former USSR and Asia. Moreover, connections with other ERTMS corridors will also be accelerated, which will stimulate not only the efficiency of Corridor F, but also the competitiveness of the entire traffic corridor.
According to a CER study by McKinsey on the development of rail freight corridors, investments of EUR 145 Billion by 2020 could increase the capacity of rail transport by 72% on the six ERTMS-based rail freight corridors, representing 34% of the volumes carried in Europe.
Johannes Ludewig, CER Executive Director:
“The modal share of rail could increase from 17% to 23%. Such investments in rail infrastructure would eventually lead to a strengthening of combined transport”
by Elene Ilie
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