MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MARITIME SCIENCE

MASTER DISSERTATION

Academic year 2017 – 2018

The role of public agents in sustainable intermodal transport network: an

international comparison.

Cassandra Van Bossche

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Science in Maritime Science

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Cathy Macharis

Assessor: Dr. Tom Vermeiren

I

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This master dissertation means the end of my student years and more specific, the end of the

programme Maritime Science. Last year I graduated in a Master Public Administration and

Management and I started this programme with the purpose of working in the public sector and

more specific in a maritime context. Therefore, I was looking for a topic whereby I could combine

knowledge of both master degrees. Thanks to prof. dr. Cathy Macharis and dr. Tom Vermeiren I

had the possibility to combine both master degrees in a thesis research. Therefore, I would like

to thank them for this opportunity and I want to express my gratitude to dr. Vermeiren for his

guidance and advice.

I would also like to thank the various government bodies and terminal operators for their time

and cooperation. Thanks to their enthusiasm about my thesis, I was able to plan a lot of interviews

in a short time.

Also my friend, Dagmar Stockman, deserves an acknowledgement for encouraging and advising

me. But also my boyfriend who supported me throughout the whole process and who showed

great patience. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents who gave me the opportunity

to study and to graduate twice. Doing this research was not possible without their unconditional

support and understanding. My father I would also want to thank for proofreading my thesis and

my mother for believing in me.

Thank you.

Cassandra Van Bossche

August 2018, Ghent

II

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................... I

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ II

ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................................... IV

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................................................ V

TABLES ............................................................................................................................................. V FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................ V

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 1

PART 1. THEORETICAL FRAME ............................................................................................... 3

1.1. THE EVOLUTION OF FREIGHT TRANSPORT ............................................................................. 3 1.2. THE DIFFERENT TRANSPORT MODES ...................................................................................... 7 1.2.1. ROAD TRANSPORT ...................................................................................................................... 8 1.2.2. RAIL TRANSPORT ...................................................................................................................... 11 1.2.3. WATERBORNE TRANSPORT ....................................................................................................... 12 1.2.4. SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 15 1.3. INTERMODAL TRANSPORT .................................................................................................... 17 1.3.1. DEFINING THE CONCEPT ........................................................................................................... 17 1.3.2. INTERMODAL TRANSPORT CHAIN ............................................................................................. 19 1.3.3. BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS ...................................................................................................... 21 1.4. ROLES OF THE GOVERNMENT ................................................................................................ 23

PART 2. EMPIRICAL FRAME .................................................................................................... 24

2.1 PROBLEM DEFINITION ............................................................................................................ 24 2.2 RESEARCH QUESTION AND SCOPE .......................................................................................... 25 2.3 RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................................................. 26

PART 3. RESULTS....................................................................................................................... 29

3.1 EU LEVEL ............................................................................................................................... 29 3.2 NATIONAL LEVEL ................................................................................................................... 33 3.2.1 BELGIUM .................................................................................................................................... 34 3.2.1.1 Federal government........................................................................................................... 34 3.2.1.2 Regional government ........................................................................................................ 38

III

3.2.1.3 Flemish government .......................................................................................................... 40 3.2.1.4 Walloon government ......................................................................................................... 45 3.2.1.5 Provincial and local government .................................................................................... 46 3.2.2 THE NETHERLANDS ................................................................................................................... 49 3.2.2.1 Central government ........................................................................................................... 50 3.2.2.2 Provincial and local government .................................................................................... 51

CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 54

BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 57

ANNEXES ..................................................................................................................................... 62

A. OVERVIEW INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................................... 62 B. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................ 63

IV

ABBREVIATIONS

CEF = Connecting Europe Facility

DPVNI = Direction de la Promotion des Voies Navigables et de l’Intermodalité

ERTMS = European Rail Traffic Management System

ETCS = European Train Control System

EU = European Union

GDP = gross domestic product

GHG = GreenHouse Gasses

IWW = Inland WaterWay

JIT = Just-In-Time

MoS = Motorways of the Sea

ODG = Operational directorate-general

SSS = Short Sea Shipping

TEU = Twenty-foot equivalent unit

WHO = World Health organization

VWW = Vlaamse Waterweg

V

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Tables

Table 1: summary (dis)advantages transport modes 15

Figures

Figure 1: Evolution of the global trade 3

Figure 2: Evolution of container shipping 4

Figure 3: Evolution of transport EU-28 5

Figure 4: Emissions per sector 6

Figure 5: performance freight transport per mode 7

Figure 6: modal split EU-28, 2016 8

Figure 7: Modal split EU-28 8

Figure 8: External costs per transport mode 10

Figure 9: Share of transport GHG emissions 11

Figure 10: Transport capacity 13

Figure 11: cost structure transport modes 16

Figure 12: Concept frame 18

Figure 13: intermodal chain 19

Figure 14: Party logistics providers 20

Figure 15: The Core Network Corridors 31

Figure 16: Modal split Belgium (2016, in %) 33

Figure 17: Modal split Netherlands (2016, in %) 33

Figure 18: modal split port of Antwerp 39

Figure 19: modal split port of Liège 40

Figure 20: modal split ambition 2030 Antwerp 47

Figure 21: Modal split port of Rotterdam 49

1

INTRODUCTION

Transport represents a crucial sector of the economy. The sector accounts for five percent of the

European gross domestic product (GDP). The demand for transport continues to increase and this

even with approximately three percent per year (Europa Nu, sd). When talking about transport,

a distinction can be made between passenger and freight transport. The latter is what will be

discussed in this research. In the globalized world we live in today, freight transport is very

important. Especially road transport seems to be very attractive to transport goods between

places. Unfortunately, this does not come along without any issues. The various government

institutions are aware of these issues as the impact increases. Therefore, goals and regulations

are set up to tackle or avoid the problems.

More and more attention is given to sustainable developments. Sustainable development can be

defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of

future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland Commission, 1987). In the transport

sector the focus lies on sustainability as well. An example is intermodal transport, which is

believed to be a sustainable solution for the negative effects that the transport sector now

produces.

For years, governments are trying to reduce the road freight transport by promoting intermodal

transport. However, after all the effort they have made until now, no change in the share of road

transport can be perceived. This raises questions concerning the efforts of the governments.

Therefore, I would like to investigate what efforts the various government bodies are making.

The research answers the following main question:

“To what extent are the different public agents trying to stimulate intermodal transport in the

port of Antwerp, Liège and Rotterdam in fields of investments, policy and traffic management?”

2

This thesis starts with a theoretical framework wherein the evolution of freight transport is

discussed. The various transport modes and their advantages and disadvantages are also

examined in this part followed by the explanation and situation of concepts such as intermodal

transport. The goal is to frame the topic of this thesis and to clarify some matters. The second

part consists of the empirical frame explaining the approach of the research. This part is dedicated

to explaining which research strategies are used and to motivate several choices. At last, the third

part contains the results of the research. The collected data will be analysed and discussed in this

part, to formulate answers to the questions.

3

PART 1. Theoretical frame

1.1. The evolution of freight transport

Until 1800 there was a long period of low international trade. However, in the beginning of the

18th century the industrial revolution with its technological advances has made a change in this

situation. This period was characterized by a massive expansion of trade, capital and technology

flows and is known as the so-called ‘first wave of globalization’ (Ortiz-Ospina & Roser, 2018;

Hayuth, 1987). Over the years many global developments, such as the rise of e-commerce,

generated a continuous growth in the global trade as can be seen in figure 1. Figure 1 indicates

that the financial crisis in 2008 has led to a strong drop in the global trade but after a sharp

recovery in 2009, global trade is continuing to rise again.

Figure 1: Evolution of the global trade (Source: (Fox, 2017))

Hence, for many years goods are shipped across the oceans but it was not always as easy as it is

today. Before, loading and unloading of sacks and wooden crates was a very slow and

burdensome process and is known as ‘break bulk shipping’ (World Shipping Council, 2018). Only

in the second half of the 20th Century a change in the process has occurred with the invention of

the container. Malcolm McLean came up with the idea of transporting entire truck trailers filled

with cargo to improve the process of loading and unloading (Meisel, 2009; Hayuth, 1987). He

believed that efficiency could be improved by containers that demanded minimum interruption

and which could easily be moved via different transport modes (World Shipping Council, 2018;

Kuipers, 2014).

4

This invention was one of the developments that led to a revolution in the international trade and

since then, more and more is being transported in containers. Figure 2 indicates this growth in

container shipping with a decline in 2008 due to the financial crisis, and it is believed that the

demand for container transport will continue to increase.

Figure 2: Evolution of container shipping (Source: (Hunkar, 2011))

Thus, several developments such as containerization has shaped the world into the global market

as we know it today. In this globalized and liberalized trade world, the demand for freight

transport is continuously rising. When looking at the EU-28 (figure 3), a growth in the transport

of goods can be observed. A substantial decline was caused by the financial crisis but the latest

years it is recovering from this situation and starting to increase again. An explanation for the

growing demand could be the increasing consumption of goods and services but also the

production of goods and services that is more spread over the world (OECD, 1997).

5

Figure 3: Evolution of transport EU-28 (Source: (European Union, 2017))

The growing demand for transport is beneficial for the economy but also brings about several

disadvantages. The first drawback are the emissions generated by the transport sector. The figure

below (4) provides an overview of the share in emissions of each sector. It indicates that the

transport sector generates the highest amounts of emissions and, unlike the other sectors, has

not been able to reduce its share yet. All the other sectors show a gradual decline in emissions

over the years, and although the transport sector started a decrease in 2007, the amount remains

higher than in 1990 (European Union, sd). Emissions form a big environmental threat since it

increases the temperature on earth leading to a climate change. Thus, the challenge the world is

facing nowadays is increasing the economic growth and at the same time reducing the

greenhouse gases.

6

Figure 4: Emissions per sector ( (European Union, sd)

Nowadays, due to increasing goods and passengers transport over the road, Europe keeps on

suffering from a traffic infarction. Annually, the congestion in the EU costs approximately 100

billion euros. This equals 1 % of the GDP of the EU (European Union, sd). Besides emissions and

congestion, the transport sector also contributes to other externalities such as noise pollution

and accidents. Noise pollution is a major concern in Europe as it can lead to stress, sleep

disturbance and it affects the wildlife. According to the World Health organization (WHO) noise

is the second worst environmental factor affecting the human health in Europe. Thus, the

increasing transport leads to several negative environmental effects affecting the human and

wildlife health. Due to this, the EU has set several directives with initiatives in order to tackle

these problems (European Environment Agency, 2016).

7

1.2. The different transport modes

First, it is important to know the advantages and disadvantages of the different transport modes.

When considering the different transport modes, the utilization for each mode has developed in

a specific way. Figure 5 shows that the prominent transport mode is the road transport while the

rail and inland waterways are less utilized. The road transport is starting to increase again after

the financial crisis, whereas the rail and inland waterways transport generally remain constant. In

order to understand the choice of using a specific mode, it is necessary to delve into the

characteristics of each mode. The choice of mode depends on several elements such as the

transportation cost, destination, time and reliability. The modes that will be scrutinized are road,

rail and waterborne transport. There are several other modes such as pipelines and air transport

but due to the focus on transport by one loading unit, these are not relevant for this thesis.

Figure 5: performance freight transport per

mode (Source: (European Union, 2017))

8

1.2.1. Road transport

The first mode that will be discussed is the road transport by means of trucks. It is one of the most

common mode of transportation and is used worldwide. As can be seen in figures 6 and 7, for the

past 13 years road transport has had the biggest share in the EU-28 with a percentage of 77 in

2016. Thereby, it is striking that the share of each mode remains the same over the years.

Figure 6: modal split EU-28, 2016 Figure 7: Modal split EU-28, 2005-2016

Source: retained from (Eurostat, 2017)

The question is why road transport is so attractive and used more than other transportation

modes? At first, road transport has the ability to deliver door-to-door without transhipment due

to the extensive road network. This means that goods or containers do not have to be unloaded

to be loaded into another transport mode to reach the destination. Furthermore, it offers high

flexible services and a short lead time which is the time between ordering something and having

it delivered. On the other hand, road transportation has a limited capacity. When transporting

containers with trucks, every truck can only transport one TEU which equals a 20-foot-long

container (Flanders Investment & Trade, 2011; Majerčák, Kudláč, & Panák, 2015).

77%

17%

6%

Road

Rail

IWW0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

20

14

20

15

20

16

Modal split EU-28, 2005-2016

Road Rail IWW

9

In terms of cost, a distinction can be made between the transport costs and the external costs. At

first the transport costs will be considered. The transport costs can be divided in fixed and variable

costs. Fixed costs are unavoidable because it are the costs that incur before any transport is done.

Some examples are the cost for providing infrastructure, for equipping terminal facilities and for

staff (Raghav, sd). For road transport the fixed cost is much lower than for rail or inland

waterways. Road transport requires less expensive equipment, so the investment cost is relatively

limited. Though, when adding the variable costs road transport becomes more expensive than

the other two modes (C. Macharis, personal communication (lesson hinterland transportation), 8

March 2018). Variable costs occur when there is actual movement and it depends on the distance

travelled (Raghav, sd). A reason for the fast-increasing price per unit for road transport is the

limited capacity but also the fuel consumption is relatively high (Macharis & Verbeke, 1999). Thus,

when considering transport costs, road transport is only advantageous for short distances

(Majerčák, Kudláč, & Panák, 2015).

The external costs are costs that arise ‘when the social or economic activities of one group of

persons have an impact on another group and when that impact is not fully accounted, or

compensated for, by the first group’ (Bickel & Friedrich, 2005). These costs include noise,

transport safety, climate gases, air pollution and congestion. As mentioned earlier, the growing

road traffic, for both passengers and freight transport, is leading towards more congestion

problems. This also gives the problem that a truck is affected by congestion and so the reliability

becomes smaller. Due to congestion it is hard to arrive on time or to know when the goods will

be delivered. Thereby, in road transport more accidents occur involving trucks and a reason for

this is for example the congestion. So, in figure 8 we see that road transport is also more

dangerous than rail or waterborne transport (Majerčák, Kudláč, & Panák, 2015).

10

Figure 8: External costs per transport mode (Source: (European Court of Auditors, 2015))

Another external factor is indicated in the figure below (9). This figure represents the share of

each transport mode in Greenhouse Gas emissions for the EU-28. This shows that the road

transport is the major contributor. Even in figure 8 which indicates the external costs in cents per

ton-kilometre, it can be seen that road transport has the biggest share concerning climate gases

but also air pollutants. But road traffic is not only the biggest contributor to air pollution, it is also

the major contributor of environmental noise. A study of the European Environment Agency

(2016) has revealed that at least 100 million people are exposed to traffic noise that exceeds the

EU indicator of noise annoyance. This number makes road traffic the most important source of

environmental noise. So, in general, the sum of the external costs for road transport is very high.

11

Figure 9: Share of transport GHG emissions (Source: (EEA, 2017))

1.2.2. Rail transport

The second mode is the rail transport. Unlike road transport, rail transport has a high capacity. A

train can have hundreds of wagons but only needs one driver for it. It is the most efficient land

transportation mode as one train can take over 400 trucks. Thereby, rail transport depends less

on weather conditions and is not affected by congestion which makes it fast and more reliable.

Though, a door-to-door service is impossible for rail transport and thus it requires transhipment

onto road transport (Majerčák, Kudláč, & Panák, 2015; Flanders Investment & Trade, 2011;

Modes transportation explained best, 2018). The rail network is extensive, in 2015 the usable

railway lines in Europe amounted 218.000 kilometres, but it is more restricted than road network

which makes it quite impossible to reach final destinations (Statista, 2018).

The necessary transhipment creates additional costs for rail transport. When looking at the costs,

the fixed cost is much higher than for road transport. The investment cost is significantly higher

due to for example expensive locomotives, expensive cranes to load and unload a train or

expensive infrastructure. Because rail transport cannot offer door-to-door services, road

transport still must be used to reach the final destination.

12

This transhipment requires extra handling, leading to more costs. However, after a certain

distance the variable costs of rail transport becomes much lower than road transport. Due to the

big capacity that can be transported the price per unit decreases in distance (Macharis & Verbeke,

1999; Flanders Investment & Trade, 2011; Majerčák, Kudláč, & Panák, 2015). So unlike road

transport, rail transport is more suitable for long distances (C. Macharis, personal communication

(lesson hinterland transportation), 8 March 2018).

Also the external costs are in general much lower for rail transport. As already mentioned, in the

rail transport there is no congestion problem. Thereby, the accidents involving freight trains is

very low so rail transport is much safer than road transport (Flanders Investment & Trade, 2011;

Majerčák, Kudláč, & Panák, 2015; Modes transportation explained best, 2018). As shown in figure

8 above, rail transport contributes the least to air pollution and has low GHG emissions. Though,

it has a great share in the environmental noise. More specific, rail transport is the second major

contributor to noise pollution in the EU exposing 19 million people (EEA, 2017).

1.2.3. Waterborne transport

When talking about waterborne transport a distinction can be made between inland waterways

(IWW) and Short Sea Shipping (SSS). The European Union defines SSS as ‘The movement of cargo

by sea between ports situated in geographical Europe or between those ports and ports situated

in non-European countries having a coastline on the enclosed seas bordering Europe.’ (European

Shortsea Network, sd). For example, a ship going from the port of Antwerp to the port of Ghent

will use the coastal waters instead of the IWW. Inland waterway transport is one of the main

three land transport modes. The waterways include canals, rivers, lakes, etc.

The waterborne transport is characterized by a big capacity. The figure below (10) compares the

capacities of each transport mode. This gives a clear view on the fact that waterborne transport

can replace a lot of trucks on the road but also a lot of railway wagons. However, just like rail

transport, no door-to-door service is possible due to the limited network (European Court of

Auditors, 2015).

13

Although an inland waterway network of 40.000 kilometres in the EU, a big disadvantage of

waterborne transport is the limited geographical scope compared to the previous two modes

(Inland Navigation Europe, 2018). Thereby, the navigability of the waterways can change in time.

When there is low water for example, ships cannot be heavy loaded. Just like road transport,

waterborne transport depends on the weather conditions because in the winter for example

water can become ice (Saver, 2002). These elements make waterborne transport less reliable.

Another disadvantage of this transport mode is the low travel speed which in terms affects the

lead time (Majerčák, Kudláč, & Panák, 2015; Flanders Investment & Trade, 2011).

Figure 10: Transport capacity (Source: (European Court of Auditors, 2015))

In terms of transport costs, waterborne transport is similar to rail transport. To start with, the

investment costs for equipment, infrastructure, … is very high. Compared to the other two modes,

waterborne transport has the highest fixed cost. Also due to the necessary transhipment for door-

to-door services the cost increases a lot. Yet, the total transport cost is much cheaper for

waterborne transport. The reason for this are the variable costs which are characterized by

increasing economies of scale. Due to the biggest capacity, the price per unit decreases much

more in distance (Majerčák, Kudláč, & Panák, 2015; Macharis & Verbeke, 1999).

14

Thus, waterborne transport is the best choice for transporting goods over a long distance that do

not require fast delivery times. Also in fields of external costs, the waterborne transport scores

the best. Although it creates more air pollutants than rail transport, the overall external cost is

much lower. This is especially due to the environmental noise which is significantly low for this

transport mode. Moreover, the inland waterways have a very good safety record (European Court

of Auditors, 2015). So, concerning the environment, waterborne transport is the best mode to

choose.

15

1.2.4. Summary

Table 1: summary (dis)advantages transport modes

Advantages Disadvantages

Road + Door-to-door service

+ Extensive network

+ High flexibility

+ Short lead time

+ Limited investment costs

- Limited capacity (1 container)

- Affected more by congestion and creates more congestion

- Dependent on weather conditions

- Transport costs high when long distances

- High emissions and air pollutants

- High environmental noise

- Less safe (accidents)

Rail + Big capacity

+ More reliable in poor weather condition

+ Fast

+ Lower transport costs for long distances

+ Safe

+ Low emissions and air pollutants

- No door-to-door possible

- Additional handling (transhipment) with additional costs

- High investment costs

- Still high environmental noise but less than road transport

Waterborne + Big capacity

+ Lowest transport costs for long distances

+ Lowest emissions and air pollutants

+ Low environmental noise

+ Safe

- No door-to-door possible

- Additional handling (transhipment) with additional costs

- High investment costs

- Slow

- Unreliable lead time

- Availability and available network/routes

16

Thus, each transport mode has its own advantages and disadvantageous. Depending on several

elements; the type of cargo that needs to be transported, the available time to deliver, the

distance, etc., a transport mode with its specific characteristics will be chosen. Road transport has

always been the most used mode as indicated previously in figure 7. Although road transport has

several benefits, table 1 shows that it also has several disadvantages such as congestion and

emissions which can be decreased by using the other two modes. Thereby, the figure below also

shows us the differences in transport cost which clearly indicates that long distances are much

cheaper when using rail or especially waterborne transport.

Figure 11: cost structure transport modes (Source: (Macharis & Verbeke, 1999))

The past years there is a growing attention for sustainability due to e.g. global warming and

intermodal transport is believed to be a sustainable solution to tackle the various impacts of

transport. But what is intermodal transport? In the next part, the rise of this concept will be

explained and a definition will be given.

17

1.3. Intermodal transport

1.3.1. Defining the concept

Although it recently receives a lot of attention, intermodal transport is not a new phenomenon.

The concept was already introduced in the sixties but nowadays there is a growing attention due

to the increasing environmental problems that were discussed in the previous chapter (Macharis

& Verbeke, 1999). It is, of course, important to understand what is meant with intermodal

transport. Since the rise of the concept various definitions were formulated. As there is no

consensus definition, it is interesting to list some of these definitions and to clarify which

definition is used for this thesis.

Already in 1987 Hayuth defined intermodality as the displacement of cargo by at least two

transport modes with the objective to transport it in a continuous flow from origin to destination

(D'hoedt, 2010). Intermodal transport is also defined as the transportation of a person or cargo

from the origin to the destination by at least two modes and the transfer between the modes is

done at an intermodal terminal (Crainic & Kim, 2007). According to the Conference of European

Ministers of Transport (CEMT) intermodal transport is “the movement of goods in one and the

same loading unit or vehicle using successively several modes of transport without handling of the

goods themselves during changing modes” (Macharis & Verbeke, 1999; OECD, 2003). Thereby,

when the major part is done by rail or inland waterway and the initial or final part is transported

by road, it is called combined transport. The UIRR defines combined transport as the use of at

least two transport modes in one transport chain whereby the goods do not have to be changed

from containers and whereby the major part is done by rail, inland waterways or short sea

shipping and the shortest part is done by road (OECD, 2003). Combined and intermodal transport

are sometimes considered as two different concepts but in this thesis no distinction is made.

18

Thus, in this thesis, intermodal transport is considered to be the transport of goods in loading

units by means of at least two different transport modes whereby the longest distance is done by

rail, IWW or SSS and the shortest initial or final part is done by road transport. The important

elements when talking about intermodal transport is in the first place the displacement of loading

units. When talking about loading units, there are three different possibilities namely containers,

swap bodies or semi-trailers. So, it is important to know that for intermodal transport no

treatment of the goods is needed during the transhipment by virtue of the loading unit (C.

Macharis, personal communication (lesson hinterland transportation), 8 March 2018). Thereby,

due to the limited network of IWW and rail, it is impossible to exclude road transport to reach the

final destination. But in intermodal transport the goal is to shorten the distance done by road

transport.

Furthermore, it is important to distinguish several concepts concerning transport. The

fundamental way of moving something from A to B by one mode is called unimodal transport.

When at least two modes are used, it is called multimodal transport. So intermodal transport is

not a synonym for multimodal transport. Intermodal transport falls under multimodal transport

but with an extra characteristic namely the loading unit that is used (C. Macharis, personal

communication (lesson hinterland transportation), 8 March 2018).

Figure 12: Concept frame (Source: (Christiaens, 2015))

19

Co-modal transport is another concept that should not be confused with intermodal transport.

Co-modal transport focuses on the efficiency of each component of the transport chain.

Throughout the chain the purpose is to make optimal use of the available modes in order to obtain

the advantages of each mode (Somers & Tißen, 2015). When the focus is on the whole network

instead of the chain, we talk about synchromodal transport (C. Macharis, personal

communication (lesson hinterland transportation), 8 March 2018). Synchromodal transport is

more flexible than the previous concepts because the mode can be changed at any time. When

delays or malfunctions occur, it is easier to find a solution and to seek for an alternative.

Therefore, real-time information is important in order to make this possible (Christiaens, 2015;

Somers & Tißen, 2015). Figure 12 illustrates the difference between the concepts.

1.3.2. Intermodal transport chain

Figure 13: intermodal chain

(Source: (C. Macharis, personal communication (lesson hinterland transportation), 8 March 2018)

Figure 13 gives an overview of the intermodal transport chain. The first step in the chain is

collecting the goods in a nearby inland terminal. This initial part is done by road and it should be

as short as possible because it has a great share in the total cost (Macharis & Bontekoning, 2004).

Hossain, 2009). The goods that are collected in the inland terminal are then transported to a sea

port by barge or train. Once the goods are at the sea port, the transport continues to the next sea

port with big vessels.

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In an inland terminal goods can be collected, stored for a short period and then transported to

the final destination (Janic, 2007). In the inland terminal the interchange between transport

modes is taken care of. Depending on the transport mode there are different terminals; terminals

for rail, for barge or for all transport modes (Neuteleers, 2013). Subsequently, at the next sea port

the goods are brought to the inland terminal once again via rail or barge. As said before, the

network of these transport modes is restricted so in order to reach the final destination the goods

are transported by truck. Thus, when considering the whole intermodal chain, it can be said that

is a door-to-door concept.

When considering the actors involved in the intermodal chain, the consignor is the first one. The

consignor is the person who wants to send goods to the consignee. The consignee is the one who

bought the goods and who will receive them. For transporting there are several options such as

a shipping company or a shipping agent. These are partners who help to manage the transport.

More and more shippers are outsourcing their transport and logistic activities to these partners.

Figure 14 indicates the degree of outsourcing. One party logistics provider is when you do

everything yourself, so you produce goods and put it in a truck to transport it. When a transport

company is paid to do the transporting, it is second party logistics provider. Third is when the

logistics are outsourced, and fourth party logistics providers have a chain perspective and they

design it which is then executed by 3PL (C. Macharis, personal communication (lesson hinterland

transportation), 8 March 2018).

Figure 14: Party logistics providers

(Source: (C. Macharis, personal communication (lesson strategy and trends), 15 February 2018).

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1.3.3. Benefits and drawbacks

In the intermodal transport chain several transport modes are used. As already discussed, each

transport mode has its benefits and disadvantages. A good combination of the different transport

modes can allow to use each mode for the part of the transportation to which it suits best. In this

way the benefits of each mode can be obtained leading to a more efficient, cheaper and

environmental-friendly transport (Van Hoof, 2006). Reducing the part done by road leads to a

reduction of the environmental impacts (congestion, noise pollution, accidents etc.) and to cost-

effectiveness (Wesselink, 2017). Nowadays, the Just-In-Time (JIT) principle is gaining attention.

The idea of JIT is to only produce when there is a demand. The right quantity of goods must be at

the right place and this at the right time. In this way no stock is needed, and it is easier to react

to changes in demand (Theunissen, 1996). Due to the high flexibility of road transport it is more

suitable to deliver the goods right on time. Though, because of the increasing transport via road,

congestion is increasing which makes road transport less liable because the travel time increases.

For this, intermodal transport forms a good solution to avoid congestion (Neuteleers, 2013).

When considering the costs, the transport costs and external costs both reduce when using

intermodal transport. As the main part is done by rail or barge, the transport costs decreases

because they are much lower for long distances. The short distances are done by truck which is

also more cost-efficient. Furthermore, as road transport is done as short as possible, the external

costs reduce.

Although intermodal transport offers a lot of benefits, no modal shift has occurred over the years.

Several reasons can be given for not using intermodal transport. At first, speed is a big issue. Rail

and IWW transport do not offer direct routes to the final destination which slows down. Also the

speed of a barge is much lower. Thereby, transhipping containers to another transport mode

requires additional time. Another reason is the lack of reliability. The intermodal chain is longer

than the unimodal chain which increases the chances for disruptions. The transhipments during

the intermodal transport also carries a bigger risk for damage. Damage can be avoided by

overpacking, but this also leads to added weight and expenses.

22

Furthermore, as mentioned before, rail and IWW transport have a high fixed cost because they

require expensive infrastructure. Heavy-duty cranes and equipment are needed to handle large

containers and these are very expensive so not every port has these available (Allen, 2017).

Another issue that rail transport brings along, concerns the profitability. Rail transport is only

profitable when you are able to transport a certain percentage of containers. So filling up a train

is necessary in order to avoid losses but a large quantity is not always possible. This is a big issue

that stands in the way of a modal shift (personal communication, P. Hegge, 10 April 2018).

23

1.4. Roles of the government

A perfect market does not exist and when imperfections occur, the government has the task to

intervene. In the previous chapter external costs have been mentioned several times. The

external costs disrupt the market forces and are at the expense of the society. In order to increase

the welfare of the society, the government intervenes by taking measures (CD&V, 2017). There

are different roles the government can take on in context of stimulating intermodal transport. At

first, the government can make policy regarding the transport modes. New or adjusted

regulations can make certain transport modes more or less attractive. Furthermore, the

government can also invest and this can be done in two ways. At first, the government can invest

in infrastructure. Infrastructure is a key element in transport economy and is also important for

the national economy and competitiveness. Another way is by providing subsidies for e.g. projects

with the goal to stimulate intermodal transport (T. Vermeiren, personal communication, February

2018; (Sannen, 2016)).

As the transport is increasing, it is important to secure a safe and fluent traffic flow. Traffic

management is another task the government can fulfil for road, rail and IWW transport. Also

promotion can be done by the government. Persuading or attracting companies to switch to

sustainable transport modes is also a possibility and this can be done by for example campaigns.

At last, the government has also the task to give information. It is possible that not all companies

are aware of the possibilities to do transport via rail or IWW. The government can then inform

the companies of the available alternatives (T. Vermeiren, personal communication, February

2018).

24

PART 2. Empirical frame

2.1 Problem definition

A growing demand in transport benefits the economy of the world. Though, what most people

do not consider are the external effects that come along with transport. An enumeration has

indicated that there were approximately 13 million heavy duty vehicles on the roads of the EU in

2015. Moreover, annually, approximately 1.7 trillion tonne-kilometres of freight is transported by

road in the EU (Muncrief & Sharpe, 2015; Transport & Environment, sd). As mentioned before,

the share of road transport accounts for 75%. This means that road transport is the most used

mean to transport freight, but road transport is also the major contributor to the external effects

of transport. Thereby, it is expected that the coming years more freight will be moved and

especially by road.

In order to prevent the increasing external effects, the European Union has made several

regulations to save the environment and the society from the growing transport. In 2011 the EU

has set new goals in the White Paper regarding transport. A big concern of the EU is the global

warming and as said before, the transport sector is the major cause of greenhouse gasses. In this

context the EU has set the goal to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses in the transport sector

with 60 % compared to the amount in 1990 and this by 2050. In order to achieve this, by 2030,

30 % of the road freight transport for distances above 300 kilometres should be done by rail or

water transport (Europese Commissie, 2011).

Although several measures and initiatives have been taken to realize a modal shift towards more

sustainable transport modes, no decrease can be perceived in the use of road transport. So even

though there is growing attention for sustainable transport, no difference has been made yet.

Intermodal transport still holds several uncertainties which restrains transporters from making a

modal shift. In order to be able to achieve the goals by 2030 and 2050, the government has the

duty to increase their effort to make a modal shift more attractive. As discussed in the previous

chapter, the government can take on several roles in order to stimulate intermodal transport.

25

2.2 Research question and scope

In this master dissertation I want to examine which government agencies are involved in

stimulating intermodal transport. Furthermore, the goal is to investigate what the contribution is

of each government agency in the stimulation and this for rail and IWW transport. In this way a

view can be created on what is provided by the public sector in order to achieve a modal shift.

The purpose is to compare three ports where different government bodies are operating. Due to

the focus on loading units, it was important to choose ports that are handling a big number of

containers. At first, the port of Rotterdam and Antwerp are the number 1 and 2 of ports in Europe.

Also in terms of container transport both ports are the biggest ports of Europe. Comparing these

two ports is therefore a very logical choice and even very interesting as Belgium and the

Netherlands have a different governmental structure. Belgium knows a four-layer structure and

in the Netherlands there is a three-layer structure. The governmental structure of both countries

will be discussed in detail in part 3. Because Belgium is divided also in regions, namely the Flemish,

the Walloon and Brussels-Capital region, it is also interesting to compare the Flemish and Walloon

governments. And again, it was important to choose a port where a sufficient number of

containers is handled. The port of Liège does not handle the same volume as Antwerp or

Rotterdam, but it is the biggest port of Wallonia. Moreover, the port of Liège is the third largest

inland port in Europe.

The government has different possibilities to intervene. Discussing all the roles of the government

would be too broad and therefore I have chosen to take a closer look at three roles. I have chosen

to examine policy, traffic management and investment. In order to examine the actions that are

taken, the policy that is developed should also be considered. Investment is an important factor

because the expensive infrastructure of rail and IWW transport is a major cause of the reluctance

of transporters. Due to the expected increase in traffic on rails and IWW the government has the

duty to secure a fluent and safe traffic flow by operating locks for example. IWW transport for

example is considered not to be reliable which makes it unattractive.

26

Nowadays congestion in ports also occurs and in order to increase the reliability, actions need to

be taken concerning smooth traffic flows and handling. At last, policy is an important instrument

of the government to make modes more attractive or less attractive.

The goal of this fundamental research is to create an overview of the governmental efforts in the

ports of Antwerp, Liège and Rotterdam. Once this overview is created, similarities or differences

should be able to be identified.

Thus, the research question of this thesis is as follows:

“To what extent are the different public agents trying to stimulate intermodal transport in the

port of Antwerp, Liège and Rotterdam in fields of investments, policy and traffic management? “

Before being able to answer this research question, a few sub-questions should be examined: S1. How does the governmental structure of Belgium and the Netherlands look like? S2. What is the policy goal of each level concerning intermodal transport or the port and what do they provide for it? S3. Which public agents are involved for the implementation of the previous policy? S4. What specific actions do the public agents take?

2.3 Research design

The purpose of the research is not to gain numerical data and to analyse these. Therefore,

qualitative research methods were used. The primary source of the research is a literature study.

Before deciding to write a master dissertation about this topic, literature has been consulted to

inform myself about the topic. At first, it was important to understand the concept of intermodal

transport. Each research strategy has its advantages and disadvantages and so does a literature

study. A literature study is important to inform yourself about what has been investigated

already, what is known, what is not known yet, etc. On the other hand, it is also a time-consuming

work and it also has issues concerning subjectivity and selectivity. When collecting data by means

of a literature study, choices have to be made on what data to use (van Thiel, 2010).

Therefore, it is important to not use information based on one source but to compare different

27

sources and to seek for resemblances or differences. In order to find relevant literature several

databases were used such as Google Scholar, Lib.ugent and Web of Science.

Though, it is always possible that not all recent developments and opinions are written and so

not to be found in literature (van Thiel, 2010). Therefore, the next step in the research are expert-

interviews with several government bodies. With the help of the interviews, I was able to get a

clearer idea of which bodies are involved in each port. At first, I contacted the Flemish

department of Mobility and Public Works for an interview to get a view on the involved public

instances. This interview only served as a means to understand who I should contact and to

receive contacts. After this conversation, I briefly examined the different government bodies in

order to be able to formulate some questions. The goal of the interviews was not to gain

numerical data and thus semi-structured interviews were taken. This means that on beforehand

several questions are formulated and depending on the answers, additional questions can be

asked. The advantage of this, is the possibility to continue questioning on answers of the

interviewees. In this way, more and detailed information can be obtained (van Thiel, 2010;

Mortelmans, 2013). Due to the focus on three ports, a lot of interviews have been taken and for

every interview the questions were adapted. Thereby, I had to move around to take the

interviews which made this strategy also very time-consuming.

The government bodies were contacted via mail and some interviews were taken over the phone

of via mail. In Annexe A, an overview of all the contacted instances is given. This does not mean

that all these interviews have been taken. Unfortunately, regardless of the multiple attempts on

contacting certain instances, I was not able to take an interview with all of them. For this missing

information, the literature that could be found has been used.

28

During the interviews notes were taken and, when permission was given by the interviewee, the

conversations were also recorded on my phone. Recording the interviews gives the possibility to

listen to it again at home in order to transcribe it word by word. In this way I was sure that all

relevant information was collected. Another advantage is that I could focus myself on the

interviewee and I did not had to worry if everything was written down. This is very important for

semi-structured interviews because then you have time to form new questions (King & Horrocks,

2010). Eventually, I asked the interviewees if they wanted to proofread the transcription of their

interview.

The next step is analysing the data that I collected. The interviews have to be coded in order to

bring structure in the data. Processing data can be done by a software program such as NVIVO or

can be done by yourself. In this research I preferred to code it myself as the software program is

too complicated for me and thus it would take much more time. For processing, I have chosen to

use colour-codes. I gave each sub-question a colour and in every interview I coloured the

information that I could use for each question.

Example:

S2. What is the policy goal of each level concerning intermodal transport or the port and what do they provide for it?

When finding something in the interviews policy of the federal government, I coloured it in red.

In this way I got a good view on which data to use for each part of the research. The same was

also done for the literature study. By means of color-codes there was a clear overview of the

information per chapter.

29

PART 3. Results

3.1 EU level

The European Commission states that it strives for “an efficient, safe, secure and sustainable

transport” (2011). As mentioned before, the EU has the goal to reduce the GHG emissions by 2050

with 60%. In order to achieve this, the European Commission published in 2011 the whitepaper

‘Roadmap to a single European Transport Area 2050’. In this whitepaper the Commission

developed a long-term vision until 2050. Therefore, they determined ten objectives, followed by

40 measures that will help to achieve these ten objectives.

The ten objectives are:

1. “Halve the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030; phase them out in cities

by 2050; achieve essentially CO2-free city logistics in major urban centres by 203010.

2. Low-carbon sustainable fuels in aviation to reach 40% by 2050; also by 2050 reduce

EU CO2 emissions from maritime bunker fuels by 40% (if feasible 50%11).

3. 30% of road freight over 300 km should shift to other modes such as rail or waterborne transport

by 2030, and more than 50% by 2050, facilitated by efficient and green freight corridors. To meet

this goal will also require appropriate infrastructure to be developed.

4. By 2050, complete a European high-speed rail network. Triple the length of the existing high-speed

rail network by 2030 and maintain a dense railway network in all Member States. By 2050 the

majority of medium-distance passenger transport should go by rail.

5. A fully functional and EU-wide multimodal TEN-T ‘core network’ by 2030, with a high quality and

capacity network by 2050 and a corresponding set of information services.

6. By 2050, connect all core network airports to the rail network, preferably high-speed; ensure that

all core seaports are sufficiently connected to the rail freight and, where possible, inland

waterway system.

7. Deployment of the modernised air traffic management infrastructure (SESAR12) in Europe by 2020

and completion of the European Common Aviation Area. Deployment of equivalent land and

waterborne transport management systems (ERTMS13, ITS14, SSN and LRIT15, RIS16).

Deployment of the European Global Navigation Satellite System (Galileo).

30

8. By 2020, establish the framework for a European multimodal transport information,

management and payment system.

9. By 2050, move close to zero fatalities in road transport. In line with this goal, the EU aims at halving

road casualties by 2020. Make sure that the EU is a world leader in safety and security of transport

in all modes of transport.

10. Move towards full application of “user pays” and “polluter pays” principles and private sector

engagement to eliminate distortions, including harmful subsidies, generate revenues and ensure

financing for future transport investments.”

(European Commission, 2011)

A first example of an initiative that should be taken is optimizing the internal market for IWW

transport and making it more attractive by removing barriers. Also, a framework should be

created to ensure intermodal liability. Supporting multimodal transport and the integration of

IWW is also mentioned as an important initiative that has to be taken. The last example, and very

important example, is to further develop the European TEN-T mobility network and also to

develop an infrastructure funding framework (Europese Commissie, 2011).

The goal of the TEN-T Network is actually to develop a full-scale network by 2030 of railway lines,

roads, IWW, ports, airport,… . Thus, it includes all modes of transport with the purpose to build

one European transport network by focusing on infrastructure. For this, hundreds of projects are

set up and it is estimated that 500 billion euro will be needed to finance the TEN-T projects for

the current period, namely from 2014 till 2020. The Member States must finance the majority of

the amount. This network is very important because it is believed to create a 1.8% increase of the

GDP and will lead to growing employment (European Commission, sd).

In other words, by improving the infrastructure with the TEN-T network, the EU strives for

interconnection and interoperability of the transport networks of the member states. For

example, in rail transport, there are various signaling zones which makes it very complicated.

Therefore, the EU wants to develop one single signaling standard and this is for example done by

means of the European Rail Traffic Management system (European Commission, sd).

31

The maritime aspect of the TEN-T network is realized by the Motorways of the Sea (MoS). As said

before, waterborne transport is very important as it is very environmental-friendly. That is why

the goal of the maritime pillar is to make waterborne transport an attractive alternative for road

transport. Therefore, intermodal links must be improved and developed, and also critical port

infrastructure must be available (European Commission, sd).

The network is to connect the most important nodes within the EU by tackling bottlenecks and

eliminating gaps and barriers between transport networks of member states. Therefore, nine

Core Network Corridors were identified. The figure below (15) gives an overview of these nine

Corridors. To realize each corridor, several projects must be set up and the funding of all these

projects is done by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). For this, the CEF has provided over 24.05

billion euro from 2014 to 2020 to fund the projects in the member states. Furthermore, the

member states must invest in infrastructures that are in line with the European priorities

(European Commission, sd).

32

Figure 15: The Core Network Corridors (Source: (European Commission, sd))

Belgium plays an important role in the development of the TEN-T network as three of the nine

corridors are situated in Belgium. These are the North Sea-Baltic, the Rhine-Alpine and the North

Sea – Mediterranean Corridors. But also, the Netherlands has responsibilities concerning these

three Core Network Corridors.

33

3.2 National level

When comparing the modal split of Belgium with the Netherlands, the overall view indicates that

road transport is in both countries the most used transport mode. In rail and IWW transport a big

difference can be noticed. In the Netherlands, IWW transport also accounts for a big piece in the

cake with 44,6%. This is much more compared to Belgium. But when looking at rail transport,

Belgium reaches a higher percentage than the Netherlands.

Figure 16: Modal split Belgium (2016, in %)

Figure 17: Modal split Netherlands (2016, in %)

Source: (Eurostat, 2017)

Thus, in the Netherlands the share of road transport is significantly lower than in Belgium but still

has the major share in the split. Compared to the Netherlands, Belgium still has a long way to go

in order to improve the share of IWW transport but performs better in fields of rail transport.

Both countries still have some effort to make in order to really realize a modal shift towards

sustainable transport modes. In the next section, focus will be laid on specific ports in both

countries in order to create a view on the approach of the governments to tackle this problem.

6

49,4

44,6Rails

Road

IWW

11,6

73,1

15,3Rails

Road

IWW

34

3.2.1 Belgium

Belgium knows a very complex three-level government structure. The top level consists of the

Federal State and since the reform of the state also the Communities and the Regions. Each have

their own competences but are all equal concerning power. The middle level are the provinces

and at the bottom there are communes. Both are under the supervision of the authorities of the

first level. At first, the policy goals of each governmental level will be given. When focusing on

each port, the specific government bodies that are involved in order to meet the policy goals will

be discussed.

3.2.1.1 Federal government

When looking at the competences, the development of rail transport falls under the

responsibilities of the federal government. In the federal government agreement of 2014 it is said

that infrastructure projects for freight transport will get high attention in the long-term

investment plan. It also endorsed that stimulating freight transport by means of rail is very

important and so is decreasing the amount of trucks on the road. The federal government also

declares to work together with the regions in order to stimulate a modal shift by for example

revaluing inland waterway in order to reduce the greenhouse gasses and the congestions

(Federale Overheid, 2014).

The Minister responsible for mobility, François Bellot, states in his policy document that relieving

the transport infrastructure is very important in order to have a fluent traffic flow. Therefore, one

of his approaches is to improve the supply of the rail transport (Bellot, 2017).

As rail transport is a federal competence, the same regulations and actions are made for the

Flemish and Walloon regions and thus for the port of Antwerp and port of Liège. In order to

stimulate rail transport, a subsidy is provided for combined transport and diffuse transport.

Diffuse transport is also called Single Wagon Load and these are trains that consist of different

loads while combined is a train with e.g. containers. Both transport requires a lot of investment

due to the transshipment that is needed in order to reach the destination and all these costs are

making rail transport less attractive.

35

Thus, in order to tackle this problem, the Belgian federal government provides subsidies. For

combined transport there is a fixed component and a component depending on the distance. For

diffuse transport, every kilometer that is done by one wagon is multiplied with a certain amount

(personal communication, P. Hegge, 10 April 2018).

Although rail transport is a competence of the federal government, the Flemish government also

drafts a Flemish rail strategy which has to be taken into account by Infrabel when developing the

investment plan. The Flemish government and the other regional governments, have the

possibility to state rail priorities but a part of their budget must also be invested in these projects.

E.g. saying that a rail connection is necessary between place X and Y or that it should be improved

or extended. For the regional rail priorities, the Flemish region provides a budget of 100 million

euro and the Walloon government 32,5 million euro (Infrabel, 2017).

A. Infrabel

For the management of the Belgian railway network Infrabel has been established. Infrabel is an

autonomous public company and manages and operates the Belgian railway infrastructure. An

autonomous public company means that it belongs to the public sector, more specific to the

federal government, but it has own decision-making powers on management of personnel,

finances, policy and so on. It is responsible for building and maintaining the railway network and

they also coordinate the trains. Infrabel aims at developing itself into “a strong link in a

sustainable transport system”. It focuses on five major priorities namely safety, punctuality,

capacity, finance and corporate social responsibility. Infrabel employs 11.000 people and

manages this with a structure of three directorates and four supporting departments (Infrabel,

sd).

J. Decelle of Infrabel (personal communication, 11 April 2018) believes that there are two

important aspects that must be considered when talking about intermodal transport. The first

one is having the financial means to develop such networks. According to him, Infrabel does not

receive enough financial means to focus on intermodal transport. Infrabel sets up its own policy

and goals but receives grants from the government in order to fulfil its responsibilities.

36

In 2017 the dotation amounted 827,6 million euro. With this capital, it also has the responsibility

to help develop the intermodal transport network. As they are responsible for the rail

infrastructure, they should invest in certain regions to improve or to build railway networks.

Recent years, the federal government has reduced the dotation for Infrabel with a fifth of the

normal amount. The growing expectation of improving intermodal transport network in order to

promote rail freight transport does not come along with more grants. This leads to making

considerations. Infrabel is not only responsible for the rail infrastructure of freight transport, but

also passenger transport. Thus, considerations have to be made on which projects are priority

and which can be postponed (personal communication, J. Decelle, 11 April 2018).

Thereby, there are a lot of rail connections; rails on private domain leading to a company. But a

lot of rail connections are not used anymore and maintaining it requires money. Due to the

restricted budget, Infrabel is considering on closing and breaking out these connections. “Though,

a lot of comments are made as ‘If you break it out, it is gone..’. But in this fiscal context we do not

think ‘Oh, maybe we can keep it, maybe it will be used in the future….’.” (Personal communication,

J. Decelle, 11 April 2018).

Beside available financial means, also available infrastructure is necessary for an intermodal

transport network. Only when there is available infrastructure, transshipment can be realized.

Thus, as mentioned earlier, Infrabel has the responsibility to build and maintain the rail

infrastructure. A big issue in the Belgian railway network is the enormous passenger transport. In

Belgium there is no railway line specific for freight transport. This means that trains for passenger

transport and freight transport use the same rails. “In 15 years, the SNCB has seen its passenger

volume increase with 65%...but the railway network has not grown with 65% which almost leads

to saturation due to the frequency of the rail traffic…” (Personal communication, J. Decelle, 11

April 2018). Both sectors are obliged to ask Infrabel a train path and Infrabel has the duty to treat

these requests in an objective way. This results in freight transport being the victim of the

successes of the passenger transport. A big challenge is developing a railway line solely for freight

transport like the Betuwe-line from the Netherlands going to Germany.

37

This rail line is specifically for rail freight transport which gives the port of Rotterdam an advantage

compared to Antwerp. For years, there is in Belgium a discussion concerning the reopening of a

similar line, the Iron Rhine. The Iron Rhine is a railway line also solely used for freight transport

going to the Ruhr district. But due to the complex governmental structure of Belgium, until now

it has not been possible to settle this matter (Personal communication, J. Decelle, 11 April 2018).

Besides these hindrances, Infrabel is doing its best on improving the rail network for freight

transport as well as passenger transport. Concerning freight transport, Infrabel realizes that the

ports are important areas to invest in. One of the priorities is building new rail infrastructure and

expanding capacity. For this, it provides a budget of 0.5 billion euro plus some extra financial

means of the federal government (Infrabel, 2017).

Infrabel considers the port of Antwerp as one of the important areas to invest in. It wants to

support the growth of the increasing port activities, especially concerning container transport,

and this by providing a fluent rail connection in the port area. Infrabel has set a goal to realize a

modal split in the port of Antwerp of 15% for rail transport by 2030. Therefore, several projects

have been planned or even already realized. A first example of an important project that has been

realized in the port is the Liefkenshoek rail link. Since December 2014, it directly links the Left

Bank and the Right Bank. The funding for this project was by means of a public-private partnership

and the Flemish Region even contributed 107 million euro in this project. As mentioned before,

reactivating the Iron Rhine is also a project that Infrabel would like to start with providing a freight

rail line from Antwerp towards the German Ruhr area. Furthermore, the capacity of the Antwerp-

North – Mortsel line has reached its limits. Providing a new freight line, a second rail access, is

considered to be a possible solution for the problem in order to improve the access of the port

(Infrabel, sd).

For the port of Liège not much projects can be found. One example of a project is the expansion

of the marshalling yard Kinkempois in Liège. This will also be financed with the provided 0.5 billion

euro (Infrabel, 2017).

38

When talking about improving the railway network, safety is an important element. The

(expected) growing rail transport requires additional measures to ensure a safe and fluent traffic

management. In this context, Infrabel wants to invest 1.3 billion euro in improving the safety by

further developing the European Train Control System (ETCS). ETCS is part of the European project

ERTMS which was mentioned before. The ETC system is about the signaling and controlling rail

transport and it should ensure a proper monitoring of train movements (Infrabel, 2017).

3.2.1.2 Regional government

Since the sixth reform in 2014 a lot of competences were transferred from the federal

government to the communities and regions. Competences concerning IWW is an example of a

competence that was transferred to the regions. The port of Antwerp falls under the Flemish

region and the port of Liège is in the area of the Walloon region.

Antwerp is the second-largest port in Europe and the 15th container port in the world. It is known

as the gateway to Europe due to its central location towards the European hinterland. The total

port area accounts for 12.068 hectares with 1.047 kilometers of rails and 169 kilometers of useful

quays. In 2016, 10.037.341 TEU was handled in the port of Antwerp. Antwerp is also very known

for the high productivity in handling containers because per crane 40 moves are done per hour

(Antwerp port authority, sd). Although the port of Antwerp offers good rail and IWW connections

towards the rest of Europe, the most containers are still transported via road. The figure below

(18) indicates this large part of the road transport and it also shows that rail transport only has a

very small share in the container transport. Thus, this again proves that the shift from road

towards more sustainable transport modes has not been realized yet.

39

Figure 18: modal split port of Antwerp (Source: (Port authority Antwerp, sd))

The port of Liège is the largest inland port of Belgium and even the third inland port of Europe.

The port area extends over 382 hectares and 26 kilometres of quay. The port counts 32 port zones

that are spread along the Meuse and the Albert Canal. In 2016, 61.837 TEU was handled in the

port of Liège. The port of Liège is ideally situated in the hinterland of big seaports including

Antwerp and Rotterdam at the cross-section of important railway networks. The port of Liège is

as an inland terminal an important actor for the further distribution in Europe (Port authority

Liège, sd). The figure below indicates the modal split of the port. This shows that IWW transport

is very popular in the port of Liège and is the major transport mode. Though, in fields of rail

transport a bigger share is desirable. Thus, stimulating intermodal transport is mostly a matter of

environmental considerations. But also, the Walloon government believes that it is a facilitator of

economic development as it can be a source of competitiveness between industries (personal

communication, P. Moens, 27 April 2018).

40

Figure 19: modal split port of Liège (Source: personal communication, H. Thiébaut, 13

July 2018)

3.2.1.3 Flemish government

The Flemish minister of mobility, Ben Weyts, states in the policy document of 2014-2019 that

building and improving the waterways network is very important to stimulate and innovate the

IWW. One of the goals stated is the development of a multimodal Flemish transport policy. The

purpose is to obtain a fluent traffic flow and a transport system as environmental-friendly as

possible. Also the use of each transport mode with their strengths in order to reduce costs is

important. Thereby, the goal is to situate distribution centers and business areas nearby the

multimodal transshipment points. In order to achieve a multimodal system, IWW is considered

to be an important element. Though, as mentioned before, the IWW does not offer a big network

and also the Flemish minister realizes this and states that improving the quality of the IWW

network is necessary. Therefore, investments in infrastructure are needed and also the

accessibility of the Flemish ports is very important (Weyts, 2014). The Department of Mobility

and Public Works has a budget of 3,67 billion euro of which 664 million euro is provided for the

maintenance of the waterways and ports. Significant is that more budget, specifically 808 million

euro, is provided for road infrastructure (Vlaamse overheid, 2014).

17%

76%

7%

Road IWW Rail

41

What must be taken into account is that the competences of the Flemish government is restricted

in the Flemish Port Decree. This decree settles the division of powers between the Flemish

government and the Flemish port authorities in order to make the port authorities more

autonomous. An example of a competence of the port authority is the management and

exploitation of the public and private port area. The competences of the port authority will be

discussed later on (Vlaamse Havencommissie, sd).

The Flemish government is divided into several departments and agencies. Also in order to

execute its competences concerning the IWW, the tasks are divided among various autonomous

government bodies.

B. De Vlaamse Waterweg

In the beginning of this year two governmental organizations, ‘Waterwegen en Zeekanaal nv’ and

‘nv De Scheepvaart’, were merged into one autonomous organization ‘De Vlaamse Waterweg nv’.

It is responsible for the management and exploitation of the waterways. With its 1.350

employees, it strives to promote IWW transport by developing industrial area and by developing

the waterways. Thereby, water management is also one of their competences. The latter

concerns actions that need to be taken to avoid floods. It does not solely concern freight transport

but also passenger transport is included. An example is providing pontoons for water taxis.

Though, more than 80% of their actions is focused on freight transport. The Vlaamse Waterweg

(VWW) wants to make IWW an attractive transport mode by developing and optimizing the

Flemish waterways. The territorial scope of their competences extends over all navigable Flemish

canals and waterways and also the territories next to it. This latter makes it possible to also be a

landlord and thus business areas can be given in concession along the waterways (Personal

communication, Lynn Eyckmans, 22 June 2018).

42

When discussing the benefits and disadvantages of each transport mode, it was clear that IWW

transport requires high investment and especially for infrastructure. In order to tackle this

financial problem, De Vlaamse Waterweg provides the possibility of a public-private partnership.

Companies seeking for a location are most likely obliged to install installations for loading and

unloading. When this occurs, VWW will finance 80% of the infrastructure and so the company

itself only has to invest 20%. The company is then engaged to transport, over a period of 10 years,

a certain amount of goods via waterways (Personal communication, Lynn Eyckmans, 22 June

2018).

In terms of traffic management De Vlaamse Waterweg plays an important role as they are

responsible for building waterway infrastructure such as bridges and locks. In order to have a

fluent traffic flow, a lot of bridges have been automated. This means that nobody is present but

from a distance it gets monitored. This is also in view of the upcoming automated ships. To make

IWW transport more attractive, they also decided to provide a Sunday operation. Before, on

Sundays the locks and bridges were not operated. Now, when a company requests passage, they

will make sure that the locks will be operated. The waterways are broadened but bridges are also

elevated. In order to make IWW more attractive, De Vlaamse Waterweg wants to make bridges

higher in order to be able to transport four containers high. Currently, three containers can be

stacked on each other but if four containers could be stacked, a lot of extra volume can be added

(Personal communication, Lynn Eyckmans, 22 June 2018).

“More and more, we are also focusing on time management. For example, on each ship there is

an Automatic Identification System (AIS) and by means of this, it is possible to know where a ship

is situated, if they pass locks or bridges, …. If all information could be shared, it would be possible

to perfectly estimate when a ship will arrive. It is just like the GPS system of a car that can estimate

when you will arrive”. (Personal communication, Lynn Eyckmans, 22 June 2018).

43

De Vlaamse Waterweg has also transport experts who visit companies in order to provide them

information on their possibilities to transport via the waterway. Giving information is also a very

important role of the government, especially because some companies are resistant because they

do not know how to manage it and so on. Also when a company does not have enough volume

to transport, the experts will seek for solutions. For example, if the neighboring company also has

limited volume to transport, the expert will propose on transporting both volumes on one ship.

At last, in 2004 the VWW also had a support programme for companies focusing on intermodal

transport but this ended (Personal communication, Lynn Eyckmans, 22 June 2018). .

Thus, VWW is taking a lot of actions in order to promote the inland waterways. The question

remains what efforts it is making for the port of Antwerp. A first example of a cooperation

between the port authority and VWW is the Central Booking Platform. The idea was to avoid

empty container transport by building a platform. Thus, when connecting all depots in order to

know where empty containers are situated, they can be used to transport goods to the port of

Antwerp, where they can be filled up again for transport. The problem was that companies had

to share their data and of course this is very difficult to do with your competitors (Personal

communication, Lynn Eyckmans, 22 June 2018).

Upgrading the Albert Canal is also a project wherein the VWW plays a role. The port authority of

Antwerp, VWW and the port authority of Liège have made an engagement to invest in the Albert

Canal. The Canal is crucial for the port of Antwerp as it forms the connection with the inland

terminals. As it also leads to the port of Liège it is very good for its economic development. This

project that will be realized by several smaller projects is essential for the promotion of IWW

transport. The VWW wants to adapt all 64 bridges over the Canal by 2020 (Port authority Liège,

2014).

44

D. Maritieme Toegang

The Flemish Maritime Access is responsible for dredging, managing and maintaining the accesses

towards and in the Flemish ports and also does this autonomous. It builds and improves the

infrastructures that are necessary for the accessibility of the ports such as locks. Furthermore it

dredges the waterways to ensure a sufficient depth or width but it also removes obstacles that

hinder the accessibility. Furthermore, it also provides subsidies for certain infrastructures in the

ports such as quay walls (Personal communication, F. Aerts, 19 April 2018).

Maritiem Toegang does not have a mission statement concerning the stimulation of intermodal

transport. The department does strive for a sustainable development of transport but they are

solely responsible for the access towards ports according to the Port Decree. Accessibility is of

course also an important element to make waterborne transport more attractive so indirectly it

also helps in promoting IWW transport.

Maritiem Toegang was part of some very important projects for the port of Antwerp. An example

is the Kieldrecht lock that offers access towards the docks in the left bank. The lock is the biggest

in the world and assures fluent access in the port of Antwerp. The lock before was much smaller

which eventually lead to waiting times and so this new lock provides a fast traffic flow (Port

authority Antwerp, 2016).

Another example of improving the traffic flow of the waterway is the renovation of the Royers

lock. This year the port authority of Antwerp decided on renovating this lock and this will be

realized in cooperation with Maritiem Toegang. The purpose is to open this lock exclusively for

IWW transport to stimulate a modal shift. It is believed that IWW will help to expand the container

handling capacity (Port authority Antwerp, sd).

45

3.2.1.4 Walloon government

The structure of the Walloon government is somehow different. The Walloon public service

(Service Public de Wallonie) is divided in several operational directorate-generals (ODG). The

competence of the waterways is in hands of the ODG mobility and waterways. Within the ODG,

the tasks are then again divided among several departments. The Walloon minister Carlo Di

Antonio advocates for an accessible, fluent, environmental-friendly and safe mobility system. The

Walloon government has made an infrastructure plan wherein the improvement of 450

kilometers of waterways is included. They also understand the impact of IWW on the

environment and want to make an effort to stimulate sustainable transport (Antonio, sd).

The implementation of the policy of the minister of mobility is done by the ODG of mobility and

waterways (Direction générale opérationnelle de la Mobilité et des Voies hydrauliques) and for

this it receives 6,4% of the Walloon budget which is approximately 870.000 euro (Service Public

de Wallonie, 2017). The ODG manages 300 kilometres of waterways and various bridges. “The

mission consists of participation in the development of the ports and participation in the

development of transport policy of the various government levels. But also the improvement,

maintenance and control of the waterway network. A difference with the Flemish government is

that the dredging is done by a private company.” (Personal communication, P. Moens, 27 April

2018).

E. Direction de la Promotion des voies navigables et de l’intermodalité (DPVNI)

Subordinate to the ODG there is a department for the promotion and facilitation of IWW and

intermodality. “The department provides financial means for projects of companies that concern

intermodal transport. That money goes to equipment, specialized equipment like cranes or other

system to charge or discharge ships or trains” (Personal communication, P. Moens, 27 April 2018).

There is a subsidy provided for companies who invest in the development of freight transport by

IWW or rail. This is 30% for smaller and average companies and 20% for big companies with a

maximum of 500.000 euro per year. Also, for container transport by IWW a subsidy of 12 euro

per 20-foot container and 36 euro per 40-foot container is provided. This is for the operator of a

46

regular container line departing from a terminal in Wallonia (SPW, 2017).

“We also have a role of information and communication and stimulation. We give information to

the sector and organize one big event a year for the private sector to meet each other and develop

their projects. We also participate in several logistic business places like the logistic week in Paris

where we meet people who are interested in intermodality and IWW” (Personal communication,

P. Moens, 27 April 2018).

3.2.1.5 Provincial and local government

The provinces are responsible for everything that is in interest of the province. This means that

they also deal with the environment, waterways, transport etc. in their territory. This is the same

for the communes. Both have autonomy but they are still under supervision of the higher

government bodies. Based on the literature study and the interviews that were taken, it can be

concluded that the province of Antwerp and Liège are not taking initiatives to stimulate

intermodal transport or to further develop the ports. The same can be concluded for the City of

Antwerp and the City of Liège.

F. Antwerp port authority

“The port authority actually belongs to the City of Antwerp, we are part of the City.” (personal

communication, I. Nuytemans, 19 April 2018). Before 1997, the port was managed by the City

council but then a Communal port authority was established. Eventually, in 2016 it became an

autonomous port authority. The port of Antwerp only has one shareholder namely the City of

Antwerp (Port authority Antwerp).

Nowadays, with its 1584 employees the port authority stands in for the functioning of the port in

order to keep its world position. In its business plan for 2018-2020, the management and

development of areas and infrastructure is stated to be a core task of the port authority. The

vision is to expand its capacities. A second priority is to ensure a fluent traffic flow towards the

port, by stimulating a modal shift (Port authority Antwerp, 2018).

47

The port authority is pursuing an expansion of the container capacity. Together with the Flemish

government it is decided to start the project Extra Containercapacity Antwerp (ECA). It is not sure

yet what will be done in order to achieve this extra capacity. Several solutions have been

examined and discussed but until now, no ‘perfect’ alternative has been found. As the container

traffic is growing, it is very important to create space to receive and handle the containers.

Thereby, the port authority is taking into account sustainable transport and wants to assure that

there is interconnection between the transport modes (Port authority Antwerp, sd).

The ambition of the port authority is to achieve the modal shift given in figure 20 below. As

already discussed, rail transport is a federal competence but the Flemish government has chosen

to invest in projects in order to assure the realisation of the projects and this in a shorter period.

Concerning IWW, a problem that the port was facing, was the waiting times for barges. “Barges

nowadays have to fight for a place at the quay but when there is a seagoing vessel they have to

wait. So, at the end of the Antwerp Gateway the water is less deep due to sand and we have

established a dedicated quay for barges in order to tackle this problem” (Personal communication,

I. Nuytemans, 19 April 2018). Now, the port authority is trying to create more of these dedicated

quays for barges and pays the quays but the hardening of the ground must be paid by the

company.

Figure 20: modal split ambition 2030 Antwerp (Source: (Port authority Antwerp, sd))

48

Another example of what the port authority undertakes to stimulate intermodal transport, is

financing certain projects of companies. Last year, they have made a call for companies with ideas

for new or improved mobility solutions for freight transport. A couple projects were then selected

who were given a financial support for starting up the project. This was only given for three years

and then the project should be developed enough in order to keep running without the support

of the port authority. After this, the Flemish government also made a call to finance projects

(personal communication, I. Nuytemans, 19 April 2018).

Also the bundling of volumes for rail and IWW is one of the things that the port authority

considers to be a priority. The purpose is that big volumes come together at one terminal.

Nowadays, every ship stops in every terminal to unload 10 containers. “But every time, cranes

have to be operated just to handle a small ship with 10 containers and five minutes later again…”

(personal communication, I. Nuytemans, 19 April 2018). This leads to waiting times and thus the

port authority wants a more efficient handling of the containers.

G. Liège port authority

The port authority of Liège is already since 1937 an autonomous governmental body. “The mission

of Liège Port Authority is to develop, maintain and promote commercial activity in the ports of

Liège province” and tries to do this with 35 employees (Personal communication, H. Thiébaut, 13

July 2018).

The main initiative of the port authority is establishing a multimodal platform. With this, the port

authority aims at handling 200.000 TEU per year. A zone of 120 hectares will be dedicated to

logistics and also a container terminal of 15 hectares will be provided. This project is called ‘Liège

Trilogiport’ because rail, road and IWW transport will be provided in this zone. Thus, the port

authority wants to stimulate intermodal transport by actually building an intermodal logistics

platform (Personal communication, H. Thiébaut, 13 July 2018).

49

In order to finance their actions, the port of Liège depends on its own revenues from renting land

and fees. The ODG does give a subsidy for building works in the port. All infrastructure works in

the port are financed for 80% by the Walloon government (Personal communication, H. Thiébaut,

13 July 2018).

3.2.2 The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the government structure also consists of provinces and communes but the

upper level only consists of the central state government. The latter can be compared to the

federal government of Belgium. The competences are also divided among several ministers who

are responsible for a certain ministry. Each ministry consists of several agencies and independent

administrative bodies (Overheid, sd).

Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and the 12th container port in the world. The total port

area is 12.643 hectares and 74,5 kilometers of quay walls. In 2017, the port of Rotterdam handled

14.260.000 TEU. The port infrastructure has been declared to be the best in the world and this

already six times (Porth authority Rotterdam, sd). When looking at the modal split, road transport

is also the major transport mode as in Antwerp. The goal is to reduce the share of road transport

to 35% by 2030. In order to achieve that goal, the port of Rotterdam still has to undertake actions

to promote IWW and rail transport.

Figure 21: Modal split port of Rotterdam (Source: (Port authority Rotterdam, 2017))

53%36%

11%

Road IWW Rail

50

3.2.2.1 Central government

Unlike in Belgium, the competences of rail, road and IWW transport fall all under one ministry

and thus one minister, namely Cora van Nieuwenhuizen who is responsible for infrastructure and

the environment. The mission of the ministry is to create powerful connections via road, rail and

water and to assure a fluent flow and a good accessibility while taking the environment into

account. In order to fulfill this, the ministry is planning on spending approximately 8,5 billion euro.

H. Rijkswaterstaat

The Rijkswaterstaat is the implementing body of the ministry. It is authorized to manage and

develop the roads and waterways. Building bridges and maintaining the existing infrastructure

are a few of the tasks of the Rijkswaterstaat. It is comparable to the VWW of the Flemish

government who also manages and maintains the waterways and the infrastructure

(Rijkswaterstaat, sd).

As the port of Antwerp likes to establish a project concerning the bundling of goods, the

government of the Netherlands already provided a subsidy for projects for the bundling of goods.

Eight projects were chosen who received a financial support in order to deal with the existing

barriers (TRAIMCO, 2016).

The Rijkswaterstaat finances various projects for developing the port of Rotterdam. Some

examples of projects are given in the section on the port authority.

I. ProRail

ProRail is responsible for the management and maintenance of the railway network. It is

comparable to Infrabel of Belgium as it is also an autonomous body. ProRail has stated three goals

namely to develop capacity for the future mobility, making transport by rail more reliable and

making the rail mobility as sustainable as possible. In order to realize its goals, ProRail receives

financial means of the ministry.

51

In cooperation with Rijkswaterstaat, ProRail wants to realize a new rail line for freight over the

Botlekbridge. This is not only to improve the rail network, also for inland waterways this project

is important as the low bridge formed a barrier (ProRail, 2018).

ProRail is also busy realizing the Programme Highfrequent Railtransport. As the name of the

programme says, the goal is to make the railway network suitable for the upcoming railtransport.

The core idea is putting more passenger transport on busy routes and giving freight transport

more space. But, ProRail does not build completely new infrastructure for it. The purpose is to

use the existing infrastructure. Freight transport will usually use the Betuweroute and

freightroutes East-Netherlands and South-Netherlands but the latter will be adapted due to the

limited capacity (ProRail, 2018).

Also safety is considered to be important. ProRail wants to provide the ERTMS on as much

infrastructure as possible. For this, ProRail organized the programme ERTMS together with the

ministry of Infrastructure and Waterway. Also strengthening the competitive position of rail

transport is a priority of ProRail. It wants to realize this by shortening the leadtime and by

preparing the rail for trains of 740 meters long. The latter is with the view on the European goal

(ProRail, 2018).

For the port of Rotterdam, the Theemswegtracé is a very important project. This project is

explained later on.

3.2.2.2 Provincial and local government

The provinces in the Netherlands have broad competences. The province is an autonomous

government body and can decide on various things. Some examples of competences are deciding

where to build business areas, where rails or waterway connections should come and it also

monitors the communes. The communes implement tasks that are of direct interest of the

inhabitants. In order to complete tasks, the provinces and communes receive partly financial

means of the central government. Based on the interview with the port authority and the

literature, it can be said that the City of Rotterdam is not involved in developing the intermodal

transport network. It solely provides financial means (Overheid, sd).

52

J. Province North Brabant

North Brabant is situated in between the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam and forms the

hinterland connection to the Ruhr area. Due to its position, the province considers its

infrastructure network to have an important role in the freight transport e.g. from Rotterdam to

Antwerp. Therefore, it would like to improve its accessibility and infrastructure connection

(Provincie Noord-Brabant, 2014).

Also concerning IWW transport, the province realizes the benefits of its strong position. The

waterway network of Brabant consists of several waterways and canals. The waterway network

of Brabant connects the province with for example the port of Rotterdam. That is why the

province aims at stimulating freight transport via IWW. Broadening the capacity of certain parts

is one of the actions that will be taken (Provincie Noord-Brabant, 2014)..

Though the port of Rotterdam is situated in the province of South Holland, M. van Schuylenburg

of the port authority of Rotterdam claims to work a lot together with the province North Brabant.

(personal communication, 27 July 2018). Nevertheless, no examples of efforts concerning the port

of Rotterdam has been found.

K. Province of South Holland

The province of South Holland aims at making waterway transport an attractive alternative for

road transport. Investing in the maintenance of the waterways and providing sufficient berths are

the actions that the province wants to take. Furthermore, the province helps on realizing the Port

Vision by means of finances and in the next part some examples of projects will be given

(Provincie Zuid Holland, 2015).

53

L. Rotterdam port authority

The port authority of Rotterdam is responsible for the management and development of the port

area. Thereby, it is also responsible for a safe and smooth handling of the shipping. It is an

autonomous government body and the shareholders are for 70% the City of Rotterdam and 30%

by the State. Before 2004, the port authority of Rotterdam was a communal port authority “but

now the City of Rotterdam is at a further distance from us”. (Personal communication, M. van

Schuylenburg, 27 July 2018). The port authority employs for its functioning 1150 people.

The port authority has made a vision until 2030 containing some objectives. Providing

infrastructure is again a crucial element in stimulating a modal shift. Together with the

Rijkswaterstaat, the port authority wants to give attention to projects that improve the quality

and accessibility of the port. Several projects are chosen and some are already being realized (Port

authority Rotterdam, 2011). An example of a big project is the Theemswegtracé. The first part of

the Betuweroute will be replaced by the new Theemswegtracé. This will be four kilometres long

and at the same time it forms a solution for two bridges that form a problem for IWW transport

(Port authority Antwerp, sd).

The port authority invests also in places where barges can wait and is trying to improve the

handling process. “In the IWW there sometimes is a congestion problem and we try to bring

parties together to solve it and to invest in solutions” (Personal communication, M. van

Schuylenburg, 27 July 2018). By means of the Container Exchange Route (CER), a possible solution

is provided. The idea of the CER is bundling containers. This means that trains and barges do not

have to go to the different terminals anymore. In this way the port authorities strives for a smooth

traffic flow (Port authority Rotterdam, sd). Also the deepening of the Nieuwe Waterweg and the

Botlek is done to allow the bigger ships of today and the renovation of the Suurhoffbrug (Port

authority Rotterdam, 2011). At last, another way of trying to achieve a modal shift is including

obligations when giving business areas in concession. When a contract is made with a company,

the limit of 35% road transport by 2035 is obliged. If they exceed this maximum, the companies

will receive fines (Personal communication, M. van Schuylenburg, 27 July 2018).

54

CONCLUSION

When looking at the policies of the governments we can actually conclude that they are focused

on the disadvantages of each transport mode. At first, for both rail and inland waterway

transport, the limited network was a disadvantage of using these transport modes. Therefore, all

governments are making an effort to expand the networks and to improve the existing networks.

A few examples for rail transport: Infrabel building the Liefkenshoek rail link, Infrabel expanding

the marshalling yard in Liège and ProRail with its Programme concerning Highfrequent

Railtransport. For the inland waterway network the port authority of Rotterdam is renovating the

Suurhoffbrug and deepening the Nieuwe Waterweg. The VWW, port of Liège and port of Antwerp

are working together on the upgrade of the Albert Canal and Antwerp is even working on the

expansion of the container capacity. Maritieme Toegang from the Flemish government is also

involved in the expansion of the network by for example renovating the Royers Lock in order to

dedicate it to IWW transport. All government instances are doing what is possible in order to

create these broad networks of rail and waterways. Though, Infrabel would like to open a

dedicated rail line for freight but this discussion is already going on for years while the

Netherlands already have such dedicated Betuwe-line. The big amount of passenger transport is

occupying the rails that also must be used for freight transport.

The cost of the transport modes is also a very important factor on which decisions are made.

Although rail transport and inland waterway transport are financially more attractive for long

distances, the investment price forms a barrier. The governments, both in Belgium and the

Netherlands, have taken some measures to get rid of this hurdle. At first the cost for

infrastructure is important. Concerning infrastructure, the VWW provides a public private

partnership whereby companies only have to pay 20% of the infrastructure. The DPVNI of

Wallonia provides a subsidy for companies investing in the development of freight transport by

IWW or rail. Concerning the Netherlands, no specific initiatives concerning infrastructure cost has

been found.

55

Another cost is the cost for operation. More specific, using a train to transport containers is only

profitable when there is a large volume that needs to be transported. Not every company has

large volumes to be transported and thus will chose for the much cheaper road transport. For

this, initiatives are being taken to create a system of bundling in the port of Antwerp. Now, at

several quays there are container volumes that are not sufficient to fill a complete train by itself

but when putting all the containers of all quays a train could be filled. Though, bundling all these

containers is a very big cost.

Therefore, there is a proposal at the European Commission so that in the port of Antwerp big

projects can be set up to realize this. But not only for rail transport, also for IWW they want to

apply the system of bundling. The Netherlands has taken initiatives for bundling already years

ago. Rijkswaterstaat already provided a subsidy programme wherein companies could send in

their project ideas for bundling. Currently, the port authority of Rotterdam is also working on a

Container Exchange Route for bundling the containers. Also, the Belgian federal government

provides subsidies for specific rail transport and DPVNI provides subsidies for container transport

via IWW.

At last, the smooth and safe traffic flow is also a point of focus. Concerning the rail, both Infrabel

and ProRail are making the European Rail Traffic Management System as a priority. In context of

IWW, both ports have known congestion problems. Barges are confronted with waiting times.

The port of Antwerp is trying to solve this problem by means of dedicated terminals and the port

of Rotterdam is trying to solve this partly by the Container Exchange Route. The VWW is also busy

with building automatic bridges for a smooth traffic flow, the operation of locks on Sundays has

been made possible and so on.

All the efforts that are made for transport and mobility just shows how important the transport

sector is. The sector is key for economic development which makes constant improvement of it a

crucial thing. In the world we live today, due to technology for instance, everything is changing

rapidly. Therefore, it is important to be able to catch up with the new and upcoming trends.

56

Overall, the various government bodies are making a lot effort to tackle the obstacles that come

along with intermodal transport. Their actions also show a lot of similarities such as bundling and

dedicated rail line. Of course, there is space for improvement, but Rome was not built in one day

either.

Each research has its restrictions and so does mine. More interviews should be taken in order to

make the overview more specific and detailed. Though, I believe that this overview forms a good

basis for further research. It indicates the differences and similarities between the government

structure of Belgium and the Netherlands and their approach towards intermodal transport. The

goal of this research was solely describing the involvement of the government bodies. Further

explanatory or evaluating research can be done based on this overview. In order to achieve a

modal shift, it could be interesting to do further research to seek for the best practice. This can,

for example, be done by measuring the satisfaction of terminal operators, logistical actors, ….

within the ports.

57

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ANNEXES

A. Overview interviews

Antwerp

Place + date Organisation Interviewee

21/03, Gent MOW, afdeling beleid Thomas Christiaens

10/04, Brussel Lineas Paul Hegge

11/04, Gent Infrabel Jos Decelle

19/04, Antwerpen Port of Antwerp Inge Nuytemans

19/04, Antwerpen Maritieme toegang Ilse Hoet en Freddy Aerts

22/06, Willebroek Vlaamse Waterweg Lynn Eyckmans

No reply Cabinet of minister Weyts

Liège

Place + date Organisation Interviewee

27/04, via phone SPW, DPVNI Pascal Moens

13/07, via phone + mail Port of Liège Hélène Thiébaut

Rotterdam

Place + date Organisation Interviewee

27/07, via phone Port of Rotterdam Maurits van Schuylenburg

No reply Rijkswaterstaat

No reply ProRail

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B. Interview questions

Infrabel What are the responsibilities of Infrabel? What is your relation with the governments? Why is, according to you, rail transport not used that much for freight? How would you, Infrabel, define the concept intermodal transport? What is your policy concerning intermodal transport, and why is it important for you? What actions concerning infrastructure do you take, especially in Antwerp and Liège? What measures for safety and traffic management do you take?

Lineas What are the responsibilities of Lineas? What is your relation with the government? Why is, according to you, rail transport not used that much for freight? How would you, Lineas , define the concept intermodal transport? What is your policy concerning intermodal transport? What actions concerning infrastructure do you take, especially in Antwerp and Liège?

Vlaamse Waterweg What are the responsibilities of VWW? What is your relation with the other governments (Flemish, …)? Why is, according to you, IWW transport not used that much for freight? How would you, VWW , define the concept intermodal transport? What is your policy concerning intermodal transport, and why is it important for you? What actions concerning infrastructure do you take, especially in Antwerp? What measures for safety and traffic management do you take, in Antwerp? Who should I contact in Wallonia?

Port authority Antwerp What are the competences of the port authority? What is your connection/relation with the governments? How would you, the port authority , define the concept intermodal transport? What is your policy concerning intermodal transport, and why is it important for you? What actions concerning infrastructure do you take? What measures for safety and traffic management do you take? What other public actors are involved in the development of an intermodal transport network in Antwerp/who should I contact?

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Maritiem Toegang What are the competences of Maritiem Toegang? What is your relation with the other governments (Flemish, …)? How would you, Maritiem Toegang , define the concept intermodal transport? What is your policy concerning intermodal transport, and why is it important for you? What actions concerning infrastructure do you take? What other public actors are involved in the development of an intermodal transport network in Antwerp/who should I contact?

Port of Liège What are the competences of the port authority? Is it the same as in Flanders? What is your connection/relation with the governments? How would you, the port authority , define the concept intermodal transport? What is your policy concerning intermodal transport, and why is it important for you? What actions concerning infrastructure do you take? What measures for safety and traffic management do you take? What other public actors are involved in the development of an intermodal transport network in Liège/who should I contact?

SPW/DPVNI What are the competences of DPVNI? What is your relation with the other governments (Flemish, …)? How would you, DPVNI , define the concept intermodal transport? What is your policy concerning intermodal transport, and why is it important for you? What actions concerning infrastructure do you take? What measures for safety and traffic management do you take? What other public actors are involved in the development of an intermodal transport network in Liège/who should I contact?

Port authority Rotterdam What are the competences of the port authority? What is your connection/relation with the governments? How would you, port authority , define the concept intermodal transport? What is your policy concerning intermodal transport, and why is it important for you? What actions concerning infrastructure do you take? What measures for safety and traffic management do you take? What other public actors are involved in the development of an intermodal transport network in Rotterdam/who should I contact?