Rhine-Alpine News
07.12.2023
Appeal to German Federal Government to treat IWT equally
Germany has passed the “Act to Accelerate Approval Procedures in the Transport Sector” on November 24th. Part of this law grants “overriding public interest” status to 138 trunk road expansion projects and railways, requiring authorities and courts to prioritise them in the future, greatly benefiting the development of these modes of transport.
Inland Waterways do not receive any such benefits, waterway projects are the sole means of transit not recognised by the current law, even for significant developments. Only new regulations on digitalizing planning approval and authorization procedures apply to waterways.
According to the organisations who signed the position paper “Strengthen and prioritise the Rhine waterway as a sustainable mode of transport and economic factor” the federal government failed to prioritise waterways equally with rail and trunk roads, despite recommendations from most federal states in May 2023. Inland waterway transport is widely recognised as a climate-friendly method of travel and essential for the energy transition. In the Rhineland and nearby Netherlands, the Rhine waterway plays a significant economic role.
Timely completion of projects is crucial for stakeholders and the economy. The Middle Rhine bottleneck, particularly during low water phases, can restrict inland navigation between the Netherlands, Lower Rhine, and Rhine-Neckar conurbation, as seen in 2018 and 2022. The Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 prioritises eliminating bottlenecks as an urgent requirement, ranking the Middle Rhine bottleneck highest in terms of urgency among all submitted projects.
The position paper has been signed by Duisport Trimodal Logistics Hub, HGK Group, HGK Shipping, Neuss-Düsseldorf harbours, Euregio Rhine-Waal, Logistics region Rhineland, and Rhineland Metropolitan Region.
To strengthen the Rhine waterway system, boost the economy of North Rhine-Westphalian Rhineland and Euregio region, and expand the Rhine’s significance as Europe’s most important waterway, sufficient resources must be allocated.
The full original text of the position paper in German, as well as a machine-translation in English (No guarantee of correctness) can be downloaded below.
Commission approves new proposal to combine modalities for greater sustainability
Symbolic picture by Dimitrisvetsikas1969 on Pixabay
Most of the Greening Freight Package has been adopted in July 2023. A proposal aims to make transport of intermodal freight more competitive in comparison to road-only travel .
Operations that reduce negative externalities by at least 40% compared to road-only operations between the same starting and ending places are prioritised. Electronic goods transport information Regulation (eFTI) digital platforms offer a computation tool to help transport organisers verify their operation is eligible for subsidy. Transport organisers will submit accessible information; approved digital systems process it. The plan exempts combination transport from weekend driving limits in addition to existing regulations. To maximise terminal and infrastructure capacity, short feeder leg trucks can reach terminals based on train, barge, or ship departure times.
The European Parliament and Council will debate the proposal in normal legislative procedure.
Source:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_5587
Danube Port Days in Vienna
Picture by Erwin van der Linden
The MultiRELOAD dissemination team, of which the Interregional Alliance for the Rhine-Alpine Corridor EGTC is a member, presented its Innovation Challenge.
The aim of the MultiRELOAD Innovation Challenge is to demonstrate ideas on how agricultural part loads could be containerized and transported on the Danube corridor. For more information, please check the website: https://lnkd.in/emxZWwni.
During the boat trip, opportunities for user interaction on a number of other upcoming innovation actions of MultiRELOAD were arranged for during a beautiful night cruise on the Danube. These user interactions are of utmost importance in order to realise the planned innovation actions and to align them with the expectations of the end users.
MultiRELOAD is a special project in the sense that it serves as a European gateway for the exchange of best practices between the important Rhine-Alpine and Danube corridors. Thanks to the excellent organisation of the Danube Port Days by the Pro Danube team led by Róbert Rafael, this mission has been very successful.
Thanks to Elvina NOWAK of ALICE, Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe (ETP LOGISTICS) and Jan-Christoph Maass from duisport – Duisburger Hafen AG for their valuable contributions.