The North Sea – Baltic rail freight corridor (RFC NS-B) has been extended to Medyka in Poland and to the ports of Ghent and Zeebrugge in Belgium, as a principal line and to the port of Terneuzen in the Netherlands, as a connecting line.
The extensions will provide direct access to the three ports, will improve the land bridge between Europe and Asia, will ensure a better interconnection between Eastern and Western European countries and between different corridors and will also bring new business opportunities to the corridor.
The extension in the western part of the corridor represents a vital artery for the ports involved and is supported through further development by Infrabel and ProRail. This extension is of strategic importance for companies who wish to transport their goods in a safe and efficient manner and also contributes to modal shift to rail. Reliable rail freight services, accessible to all, are the way forward and are beneficial for both the environment and the economy.
The extension of the corridor to Medyka is another step on the way to improving rail transport to the East and to Asian countries, increasing the transport potential of this corridor and expanding the transport offering and thereby aligning with the diversification strategy of the Polish rail infrastructure manager PKP PLK. These corridor extensions also respond to customer expectations and demonstrate cooperation between numerous stakeholders.
The RFC NS-B project aims to improve the attractiveness and efficiency of rail freight by providing a seamless, high-quality path offering along the corridor. From now on, capacity can be requested on these new lines via the Corridor One Stop Shop, the single contact point for all corridor requests.
The North Sea – Baltic rail freight corridor comprises more than 5,200 km on main lines, and over 2,500 km of diversionary lines, while offers 891 km of connecting lines. Along the corridor there are 257 terminals and it provides transport connections to 14 seaports.
Following the TEN-T Regulation review, presented by the EC in December, the 11 RFCs and the 9 CNCs will be integrated into the European Transport Corridors (ETCs) which will increase the synergy and will better integrate the EU’s rail network.
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