Participants also emphasised that the dry port concept should be discussed as a TEN-T policy component as such facilities serve as an extension of several main ports.

Click here to view presentations from the debate that took place on Sorö/ Denmark Jan 19, 2012.

We would appreciate very much if you could help us by filling in below questionnaire which will take only 15 minutes of your time. All collected responses will be used exclusively for our analysis and will be treated as strictly confidential. The results of the survey evaluation will be presented at a workshop in Spring 2012 and incorporated into the operational and strategic output of the TransBaltic.

Download: Task 4.2 Survey_Human Capacity Building in transport operations

Please send the answers to vera.axyonova@sep-partner-hamburg.eu by 27.01.2012.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact:  SEP SynergyEuropaPartner / Vera Axyonova / Phone: +49-40-383752

If the questions are out of scope of your competence, please forward the questionnaire to your colleagues or recommend us further potential respondents.

The European Commission arranged for the forth time a conference dedicated to the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T). Representatives from the Commission, the EU Parliament, national Ministries and many other stakeholders met for the last two days of November in Antwerp, to discuss the new TEN-T framework with the revised guidelines and the “Connect Europe Facility (CEF)” proposal as an integrated instrument for investments in EU infrastructure priorities in Transport, Energy and Telecommunications summing up to 50 billion EUR for 2014-2020. In times of ongoing economic crisis those three components are considered the corner stones in achieving the “Europe 2020” overarching goal of “growth” and the CEF proposal has the intention to harmonize the three sectors. As the revised TEN-T guidelines has changed approach from a former patchwork of infrastructure priorities to a connected network covering all EU member states in a dual layer of a Core network to be established by 2030 and a Comprehensive network to be realized by 2050, a regional perspective still is of importance. TranBaltic together with allied transnational transport projects in the BSR & NSR Programme got the opportunity for a private discussion with Mr Jean-Eric Paquet, Director, European Mobility Network/DG MOVE, as a follow up to the received letter of intent from the alliance expressing their will to assist in the development focusing on the green transport corridors as a measure to combine the optimised performance of multimodal supply chains with sustainable regional growth and territorial cohesion. Mr Paquet welcomed the initiative expressing his whish to see Interreg projects involved in the process and recommended the group to continue the discussions with his colleagues at DG MOVE with a first meeting for such cooperation to take place at TransBaltic Umbrella seminar hosted by NDPTL in Helsinki, 27 Jan 2012.

Allied transport projects together with Mr Jean-Eric Paquet

In this issue  –

 Emergency terminals for rail freight transport - Lack of confidence in railways’ ability to deliver acceptable quality of freight transport is one of several reasons for the small volumes of rail freight transport between Norway and other countries in the Baltic Sea Region. Representatives of key stakeholders in rail freight transport are now, within the framework of TransBaltic, working in close cooperation on procedures that might help customers to access to their containers in case of severe delays. Enabling intermodal connections between Poland and Scandinavia – The BSR transport system is going through changes due to huge infrastructure investments in fixed connections as the Øresund Bridge or the planned Fehmarn Belt Link which will increase the competitiveness of rail transport significantly on trade lanes linking Sweden and Denmark with the German transport networks, yet remains the profile of the transport system between Poland and Sweden unchanged still relying on traditional ro-ro ferry connections. A study performed by TransBaltic partner ILiM describes the potential of and the necessary steps for enabling regular intermodal connections between the main business centres in Poland and Sweden/Norway.

• Filling an important gap – While the newly launched TEN-T regulation proposal argues for a complete trans-European transport network to ensure the smooth functioning of the internal market and strengthening economic and social cohesion, the coordinated action of the national transport ministries around the Baltic Sea (Baltic Transport Outlook) delivers a plan for a strategic transport network in a macroregional context. As a complement TransBaltic presents a subregional perspective and project transport trends by 2030 with special attention to a green scenario highlighting the green corridor initiatives striving for a sustainable development within the Baltic Sea region also connecting it with the outside world. The article presents a unique estimation of transcontinental flow volumes in 2030 from the Far East destined for BSR and their distribution on different rout alternatives.

Download the report here.

In this issue -

The intergraded transport system in the Baltic Sea region – the transit role of Latvia. – The transport sector should be perceived as a whole, rather than separate industries and logistics connections. Still the transport network in the EU must not only be united, but also green, as the environmentally friendly approach hits the big time. The TransBaltic Stakeholders Debate, held in Riga on 14th of September, was devoted to the holistic and green development of European transport, with special attention to the transit role of Riga.

Inland waterway transport in the BSR – time to take action. – As transport needs are growing, while restrictions in the transport sector are increasing in number, the development of inland water transport (IWT) in the Baltic Sea region is an undeniable chance to meet market demands and to boost the region’s competitiveness on an international scale. A recent TransBaltic report gives an insight into the present state of the inland transportation system in the BSR and shows the importance of integrating IWT into the system as well as proposes actions in order to do so.

As a result of the frequent umbrella meetings and cooperation scheme, TransBaltic together with Amber Coast Logistics, Bothnian Green Logistics Corridor, BSR InnoShip, EWTCII, NECLII, Rail Baltica Growth Corridor, Scandria and StratMos agreed to sign a joint letter of intent offering the European Commission assistance in developing the green transport network of the European Union by providing their knowledge, experience and networks. The scope of the joint work by above mentioned projects correlates well with the corridor approach promoted by the Commission in the TEN-T planning work, focusing on the green transport corridors as a measure to combine the optimised performance of multimodal supply chains with sustainable regional growth and territorial cohesion.  

View the letter here: Joint letter of intent for the green transport network development

Inta Rozensteine - Deputy Director of Financial Management & Development Dep, Latvian Ministry of Transport

“Co-ompetition is the key to future successful development” Igor Kabashkin, President of the Transport and Telecommunications Institute in Riga, declared when presenting the prospects of Latvia’s transport transit role. Some 50 participants joined the discussion when TransBaltic invited to debate the subject in Riga.

Alongside Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia is mobilising the forces not to be left off the map when the growing Asian economies plan their future transport routes. Inta Rozensteine, Latvian Ministry of Transport, announced that the Ministry, in the planning stage of the national transport policy 2014-2020, is much aware of the importance of attracting these transit flows to secure a positive economic development, while keeping references to the European Commission’s White Paper.

Latvia has the advantage of bordering to both Russia and Belarus and the institutionalised customs union between these two neighbouring countries and Kazakhstan is perceived an excellent opportunity to attract the freight flows. Development of logistics and distribution centres could also be on the agenda with the value added production in the customs free zones.

Competition between the three Baltic States is, however, not a desirable outlook. While rivalling for funding to develop TEN-T infrastructure links and green transport technologies, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia can still cooperate to harmonise planning concepts and develop their own profiles as transit countries. Thus, co-ompetition at relevant governance levels and across the territories could be more suitable as a means to find a right focus in transport policy planning.

Click on the link below to see a live coverage from the event.