Specialized planning issues: A policy perspective on sea-rail and sea-river connections

Abstract

Currently most cargoes leave the terminal by road; in Europe, at least, this trend is not sustainable, and sea-rail and sea-river alternatives shall undertake more loads. The focus of this document lays in Europe, including policy and market trends in the European Union, however the problems and the potential solutions may have a global interest. In the text a thorough examination of policy developments in the fields of rail, inland waterways and intermodality is presented. Environmental issues are also discussed. The data from EUROSTAT is used as a basis for further analysis, where it is revealed that even if there is strong political support, it is questionable as to whether it is feasible to promote these links as soon as 2015 or even 2020. The concept of dry (inland) ports and their function in the canalization of cargoes is also analyzed in view of sea-rail and sea-river links. In the last section, all points are summarized and some recommendations are presented. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011.