LIGHTENING THE LOAD

MARCO POLO LEADS THE WAY

L I G H T E N I N G T H E L O A D - M A R C O P O L O L E A D S T H E WAY

CONTENTS

> Introduction – Marco Polo makes a difference 2

> The hardest part is to convince clients –Reefer Express 4
> Wind power takes the train – ENERCON Tri-Modal 5
> Big clients are more demanding – Via Danube 6
> Less paperwork = less cost – Short Sea XML 7
> More ferry space for bigger trucks – CGTK 8
> Bottled water by the trainload – Sirius 1 9
> Bringing Tangiers closer – Marocco Seaways 10
> Marco Polo was indispensable – T-REX 11
> Rail cuts time and raises quality – L.O.G.I.S.T.I.C. 12
> A freight-only weekend ferry – Gulf Stream 13
> Fixed link delivers the goods – Scandinavian Shuttle 14 European Executive Agency
for Competitiveness and Innovation
> e-Learning fills skills gap – EWITA 15 Lightening the load - Marco Polo leads the way
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications
of the European Communities
> A one-stop shop for north-south freight – ItaloExpress 16 2009 - 24 pp. - 21 cm x 29.71 cm
ISBN 978-92-9202-062-0
> Baltic shuttle wins back business – BaSS 17 DOI 10.2826/14295
Photos: Cover © EACI; page 2 © EC, © Dan Barnes/
iStockphoto.com; page 3 © Edward Todd/
> Innovative containers ease modal shift – FGI System 18 iStockphoto.com, © Digital Vision/Getty images;
page 7 © Rafael Ramirez Lee/iStoclphoto.com;
> All aboard for inter-modal learning – GLAD 19 page 10 © Darren Deans/iStockphoto.com;
page 14 © DG REGIO/EC;
page 15 © Johannes Norpoth/iStockphoto.com;
> A mark of quality – The WestMed Bridge 20 page 21 © Duisport/Rheinhold
The maps in this brochure are for illustrative
purposes only.
> Definitely worth the effort – DZRS 21
> EU support enhances credibility – Ro-Ro Past France 22
> Green customers want modal shift – Euro Reefer Rail Net 23
> Upriver by boat and truck – ETS Elbe 24

Find out more about Marco Polo online at http://ec.europa.eu/marcopolo

This brochure is published by the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation of the European Commission.
© European Communities, 2009
Design and layout: Tipik s.a./Chili con carne
The responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of
the European Community. Statements made by Marco Polo project coordinators in this brochure reflect their own views and
not necessarily those of the EACI or the European Commission. The EACI is not responsible for any use that may be made
of the information contained herein. The information contained is given for information purposes only and does not legally
bind any of the parties involved.
 MARCO POLO MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Efficient transport is the lifeblood of the European
economy. We take fast and cheap delivery from
factory to consumer across Europe for granted.
Road is often the preferred transport mode,
but rising road traffic volumes mean more
congestion, more pollution and higher costs.
The Marco Polo programme of the European
Union tackles these issues head-on. It helps
reduce traffic congestion on Europe’s crowded
roads and promotes environment-friendly
means of transport. Its strategy is simple: shift
as much freight traffic as possible from roads
to other modes of transport. While roads are
overused, rail, sea and inland waterways often
have spare capacity. They also pollute less.
A Marco Polo grant can make the difference
between launching a modal-shift project or not.
Marco Polo aims at improving the environmental
performance of European freight transport,
by freeing the roads of an annual volume of
20 billion tonne-kilometres1 of freight, the
ROAD IS OFTEN equivalent of more than 700 000 trucks a year
THE PREFERRED
travelling between Paris and Berlin. This
TRANSPORT MODE,
BUT RISING ROAD translates into substantial environmental,
societal and economic benefits.
TRAFFIC VOLUMES
MEAN MORE
CONGESTION,
USERS TELL THEIR STORIES
MORE POLLUTION
AND HIGHER COSTS.
This brochure contains a representative
sample from the wide spectrum of Marco
Polo projects. The information comes from the
participants themselves. A manager involved
in each project tells in his or her own words
of the benefits to be derived from Marco Polo.
Many highlight the difficulties, expected and
1. ‘tonne-kilometre’ means
the transport of a tonne of freight, unexpected, which they encountered – and
or its volumetric equivalent,
over a distance of one kilometre. generally overcame.
The projects described in the following pages
come from all regions of Europe. New rail and
inland waterway projects criss-cross the EU
from north to south and east to west. Motorways
of the sea provide a way round natural land
barriers and congested road corridors, offering
capacity along Europe’s Atlantic, Mediterranean
and Baltic seaboards.
MAKING THE CASE
Many projects recognise that even if rail, short-
sea shipping and inland waterways offer a
greener alternative and can compete with trucks
on commercial terms, the case for switching
still needs to be made. The business-as-usual
mentality among operators is hard to break.
Some forwarders accustomed to road transport
fear that change might mean unnecessary risk.
Dynamic marketing, quality service and close
customer care are shown to be vital tools for
Marco Polo projects.
Participants also enlist ingenuity and imagina-
tion to help their projects succeed. A number
use innovative technologies to gain a competi-
tive edge, or enhance service quality. These
include common IT management systems, GPS
for cargo track-and-trace, and new-design
containers to facilitate intermodal handling.
Some utilise big European infrastructure
projects, such as the Oeresund tunnel and
bridge between Denmark and Sweden, to
offer door-to-door international transport
services. Others have turned the Sunday ban
on heavy trucks in several EU countries to their
advantage by providing weekend freight
services by rail or sea.
2
PAGE
 A MARCO POLO GRANT CAN
MAKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
LAUNCHING A MODAL-SHIFT
PROJECT OR NOT
As a number of participants readily admit,
they take a commercial risk in launching their
projects. Even if the Marco Polo programme
offers funding only in the start-up period, they
say it helps in two ways. On the one hand, it
provides an EU stamp of approval for their project
and enhances their green credentials. On the
other hand, many of the projects described here
would not have got under way, or would have
had to be scaled-down, without the benefit of a
Marco Polo grant.
MARCO POLO IS YOUR PROGRAMME
Marco Polo is user-driven. If your company has
a project to transfer freight from road to rail or
short-sea shipping routes or inland waterways,
you may qualify for a Marco Polo grant. Your
project has to involve a cross-border route. The
grant is performance-related. In some cases,
you only get the full amount if you meet your
declared target for the amount of freight shifted
from the road to greener transport modes.
You do not have to shift all your traffic off the
road. Inter-modal projects, combining road,
rail and waterborne transport, are eligible. The
concept of transport as a door-to-door service
is important. Feeder traffic and final distribu-
tion can be handled by road, but road journeys
should be kept as short as possible.
In addition to direct modal-shift projects, Marco
Polo also funds projects that provide supporting
services, including management systems, inte-
grated cargo control or common IT platforms
to facilitate inter-operability between partners
and between modes. Training projects relat-
ed to inter-modal transport and logistics also
3
PAGE
qualify for grants. And when it comes to road
traffic, the cleanest journey is the one that did
not take place. This is why Marco Polo actively
promotes traffic avoidance, awarding grants
to road hauliers and manufacturers who de-
vise new practices (like avoiding empty runs or
using more efficient packaging) to reduce the
need for road transport in the first place.
S TA R T- U P F U N D I N G
The grants provide financial support in the
crucial start-up phase of a modal-shift project
before it pays its way to viability. Grants cover
periods of two to five years. Projects should
Marco Polo is managed by the Executive Agency
for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI) on behalf
of the European Commission’s Directorate-General
for Energy and Transport.
be commercially viable once the period of the
Marco Polo funding is over. Successful par- €60 MILLION
ticipation in a Marco Polo project enhances a IN GRANTS AVAILABLE
PER YEAR UNTIL 2013
company’s green credentials. So far more than
400 companies have benefited from funding.
The current programme runs until 2013, with an
annual budget for grants of about €60 million.
It publishes calls for proposal from potential
grant applicants at the beginning of each year
on its website (http://ec.europa.eu/marcopolo).
Bidders who feel they meet the conditions can
apply for a grant.
Responding to its users, Marco Polo has already
simplified procedures and lowered thresholds
for obtaining a grant. These are part of an ongo-
ing series of market-linked enhancements.
 KINGDOM
C E LT I C S E A

L
Cardiff
Amsterdam
T London
NEDERLAND

Calais BELGIË
A

CHANNEL Bruxelles
LISH
ENG Lille Brussel Düsseldo
BELGIQUE
Namur
Amiens
Rouen
Caen Wiesbad
LUXEMBOURG
Paris Châlons-en-Champagne
Rennes Metz Saarbrü

Orléans Strasbourg
Nantes

B A Y
Dijon
poitier
FRANCE Bessançon

Modal shift
O F Bern
Limoges SUIS
B I S C A Y Clermont-Ferrand Lyon
Santiago de Compostela Bordeaux
Aosta-Aost
Oviedo
Santander
Torino Ca
Bilbao
San Sebastián

Vitoria-Gasteiz Toulouse
rto Pamplona-Iruña Montpellier
Logroño Monaco
Valladolid
Marseille

Coimbra
ANDORRA GULF
Zaragora OF LIONS
TUGAL ESPAÑA
Madrid COR
Barcelona
Ajaccio
Toledo

Mérida

Valencia
Palma de Mallorca

T H E H A R D E S T PA R T
SARDEG
Sevilla ISLAS BALEARES
Murcia
Cagliari

IS TO CONVINCE CLIENTS
G I B R A LTA R Almería M E D I T E
Tanger
C E U TA
R

Reefer Express
new route
old route

A big benefit of Europe’s frontier-free and chemicals. The trans-shipment facility

Project name : single market is the fast delivery of often in Bilbao has been extended and improved
Reefer Ex press perishable products across the conti- to handle the more refrigerated cargo.
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
nent from producer to consumer. Reefer
Express sets out to show that sea routes Geoffrey Smith, managing-director of
€1 7 1 4 7 1 1
can compete for this transport market. It MacAndrews, the lead company, says
D uration of project gr a n t: “Marco Polo funding has allowed
is a short-sea container service between
Jul y 2 0 0 7 to July 2010
the ports of Bilbao in northern Spain, MacAndrews to enter a market previously
Le ad partner : dominated by trucks and to prove the sea-
Sheerness in England and Rotterdam
M acA ndrews & C omp a n y, Lo n d o n ( UK) borne product works as a viable alterna-
in the Netherlands. Among its principal
O t her partner : clients are fruit and vegetable producers tive to trucking without outside funding”.
A BR A Terminales Mar itima SA ( Sp a in ) in southern Spain who
Volum e of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: supply the British and
“Marco Polo funding has allowed
85 7 m tonne-kilometres Dutch retail markets.
( t hree -y ear estimate) Before the service was MacAndrews to enter a market previously
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t: established, this traf- dominated by trucks and to prove the sea-
€2 2 m (ov er three years) fic all went overland by borne product works as a viable alternative
Contact : truck across the Pyr-
to trucking without outside funding”
l on.gs s mith@macandr e ws.co m enees and France to the
Netherlands and the UK
GEOFFREY SMITH,
(via the Calais-Dover M A N A G I N G - D I R E C T O R O F M A C A N D R E W S
ferry service in the latter
case).
“We have worked with haulage and
Refrigerated produce from southern Spain rail suppliers in Spain to improve door-
is transported to Bilbao where it is trans- to-door transit times by coordinating
shipped into refrigerated containers and delivery schedules and vessel de-
loaded onto a vessel bound for Sheer- partures. Respecting the integrity of
ness and Rotterdam. The service, operat- schedules is paramount, especially for
ing on a fixed-day weekly schedule, was just-in-time cargo deliveries.” Although
launched in July 2007 with one vessel. customer support is growing and ton-
A second connection was added 12 months nages are rising, Smith says “Our biggest
later. General cargo, including tyres, tiles, obstacle was, and remains, to convince
foodstuffs, sanitary products, electronics traditional users of overland trucks that
and domestic appliances, is also carried. a seaborne route can provide a real
The main cargo on southbound journeys alternative – commercially, economically,
consists of paper, beer, foodstuffs, metals and environmentally”.

4
PAGE
 AK
RR

C
E
SKAG
Edinburgh
N O R T H

I
Belfast
S E A

T
IRELAND DANMARK
Københa
Dublin

N
ÉIRE Baile Átha Cliath

UNIT ED

A
Kiel

K INGDOM
C E LT I C S E A Hamburg Schw

L
Cardiff Bremen
Amsterdam

T
London
NEDERLAND Hannover
Potsd
Magdeburg
Calais BELGIË

A
CHANNEL Bruxelles DEUTSC HLAND
LISH
ENG Lille Brussel Düsseldorf
BELGIQUE Erfurt
Namur D
Amiens

Modal shift
Rouen
Caen Wiesbaden Frankfurt a. M.
LU X E M B OU RG Mainz
Worms
Paris Châlons-en-Champagne
Rennes Metz Saarbrücken

Stuttgart
Orléans Strasbourg
Nantes

B A Y München
Dijon
poitier
F R A N C E Bessançon Bregenz
O F Bern
Worgl
Innsbruck
Limoges SUISSE
B I S C A Y Clermont-Ferrand
K
Lyon
Santiago de Compostela Bordeaux
Aosta-Aoste Trento
Oviedo
Milano Tri
Santander
Torino Casale Padova Venezi
Bilbao
San Sebastián

Vitoria-Gasteiz Toulouse Genova

Pamplona-Iruña Bologna
Porto Montpellier
Logroño Monaco
Valladolid
Marseille Firenze
Coimbra
ANDORRA GULF Ancona
Zaragora OF LIONS Perugia
P ORT UGAL ESPAÑA
ITALIA
Madrid CO R S E
Lisboa Barcelona
Ajaccio
Toledo
Roma
Évora Mérida
Cam

W I N D P O W E R TA K E S Faro
Sevilla

Murcia
Valencia
Palma de Mallorca

I SLA S B A LE A RE S
S A R D E G NA

T Y R R H E N

THE TRAIN
Cagliari

G I B R A LTA R Almería M E D I T E S E A
Tanger
C E U TA
R
R Pal

E N E R C O N Tr i - M o d a l
new route
old route

Marco Polo can make things happen. As a high-technology company in the field
That at least is the experience of German of renewable energy, ENERCON feels P r o j e c t n a m e:
wind turbine manufacturer, ENERCON. it is natural that it should take a lead in E N E R C O N Tr i - M o d a l
“As soon as it was announced that we promoting sustainable transport, but the S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
had received Marco Polo funding, this project is also being driven by practicali- €1 268 577
had a positive effect on our partners,” ties. “We, like others,” Vogt notes, “are
D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
says Ursula Vogt, Assistant to ENERCON’s encountering increasing resistance from
J u l y 2009 t o J u n e 2012
Managing Director. “In Portugal, for local, regional and national authorities to
Le a d p a r t n e r:
example, the local government began moving exceptional loads by road. This
E N E R C O N , A u r i c h ( G er m any)
pushing the construction of a new railway translates into extended lead times and
line to our Portuguese production site. increased administrative costs.” O t h e r p a r t n e r:
Other partners and governments are also E N E O P 3 D e se n vo l v i m ento
more aware of our activities, and there However, ENERCON is confident that d e P r o j e c t o I n d u st r ial ( P or tugal )
has been positive feedback from all sides its modal shift is justified on its merits. Vo l u m e o f g o o d s sh i f t ed off the r oad:
to our objective of shifting freight from “European energy policy and the cur- 663m m t o n n e - ki l o met r es
road to rail and ship.” rent discussion of escape routes from the ( t h r e e - ye a r e st i m a t e )
latest climate change scenarios can only E st i m a t e d e n vi r o n m ent al benefit :
The project involves using rail and ship increase the trend toward more modal 13. 6m ( o ve r t h r e e year s)
to move components and parts from shift, so we are confident of long-term C o n t a c t:
Germany to Viana do Castelo in Portugal, economic benefits,” Vogt concludes. u r su l a . vo g t @ E N E R C O N. de
as well as to installation
sites throughout Europe. “European energy policy and the current
Smaller parts go in con-
discussion of escape routes from the latest
tainers. The novelty is
that ENERCON is using climate change scenarios can only increase
rail for over-size ship- the trend toward more modal shift, so we are
ments, i.e. rotor blades, confident of long-term economic benefits”
the electrical equipment
modules and tower sec- U R S U L A V O G T ,
tions of wind turbines. A S S I S T A N T T O T H E M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R
“Some people have O F E N E R C O N
had reservations about
using rail for this, but participating in
Marco Polo means it is taken more seri-
ously. It adds prestige to our plans and
helps us convince our partners to coop-
erate with us.”

5
PAGE
 AK
RR

S
E
SKAG Göteborg Jönköping
Visby

I C
Ventspils
N O R T H
Växjö Rīga
L AT V I JA

L T
Halmstd Kalmar
S E A
DANMA R K Karlskrona

A
Telšiai Šiauliai
Panevėžys

B
København Klaipėda
Malmö Utena
L I E T U VA
Tauragė
Kaunas
R OS S I JS K A Vilnius
Marijampolė
Kiel F E D E R AC I J Alytus
Rostock Gdańsk Minsk

Hamburg Schwerin Olsztyn

B E L A R U S
Bremen
Szczecin Białystok
Amsterdam Bydgoszcz

NEDERLAND Hannover
Potsdam
Berlin
Poznań
Magdeburg warszawa
POLS K A
BELGIË Zielona Góra
Bruxelles DE UTSCH L A N D Łódż
Lille Brussel Düsseldorf
Lublin
BELGIQ UE Erfurt
Namur Dresden Wrocław
Amiens Kielce
Opole
Wiesbaden Frankfurt a. M.
LU XE MB O UR G Mainz Katowice

Modal shift
Worms Praha Kraków Rzeszów
Châlons-en-Champagne
Metz Saarbrücken Č E SK Á R E PU B L I K A U K R

ns Stuttgart
Strasbourg
SLOV E NS K Á
R E PUB L I K A
München Linz Sankt Pölten Wien
Dijon Bratislava
Salzburg Eisenstadt
C E Bessançon Bregenz
Worgl Ö S T E R R E I C H
Bern Innsbruck Budapest
SUIS SE Graz MAG YA ROR S ZÁG
Klagenfurt
rrand Lyon
Aosta-Aoste Trento SLO VE N I J A R OMÂ NI A
Ljubjana
Milano Trieste Zagreb
Torino Casale Padova Venezia H R VATSK A

Genova B OSNA I Beograd

Bologna Bucureşti
Montpellier
Monaco S R B I JA
H E R CE G OV I NA
Marseille Firenze
Sarajevo
A

ULF Ancona
D

LIONS Perugia
R

A
I

I TA L I A Sofija B Â LG A R I JA
COR S E
L’Aquilla
T
Ajaccio I
Roma C Skopje

Campobasso
S
E
A Tiranë Komotini

BIG CLIENTS ARE MORE

Bari
Napoli Thessaloniki
S AR D E GN A Potenza
Kozani

Cagliari
T Y R R H E N I A N Kerkyra Ioannina Larisa A E G E A N
Mytulini
Ε ΛΛΑ ΔΑ - Ε L L Α DA

DEMANDING
Catanzaro
I T E S E A Lamia S E A
R
R Palermo Patrai
Αθήναι
Athinai

Via Danube
new route
old route

“We are successfully managing a riv- ing. A big advantage of our service is
Project name : er-borne freight service that is trusted its regularity. This way, our clients are
Vi a D anube by our clients and is seen as a quality always sure of an exact departure date
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
alternative to road transport throughout and a very good estimate of when the
€1 0 3 3 6 5 5
Europe”. This is how Dimitar Ivanov, who cargo will arrive at its destination.”
manages the project at Intershipping of
D uration of project gr a n t: “But a regular service means fixed costs,
Bulgaria, described Via Danube after its
June 2 0 0 8 to May 2011
first year of operation. The project aims to requiring vessels to sail fully-laden. This
Le ad partner : has been a challenge for us, particularly
upgrade the Danube as a freight corridor
I nters hipping Ltd, Burg a s (Bu lg a r ia ) as a result of the global economic down-
through the heart of Europe, stretching
O t her partner : from northern France via
I nters hipping Romani a SRL ( Ro ma n ia ) Germany to the Black “We are successfully managing a river-borne
Volume of goods shifte d of f t h e r o a d: Sea. It seeks to make
freight service that is trusted by our clients
51 8 m tonne-kilometres current road routes from
( t hree -y ear estimate) Maubeuge (France) and and is seen as a quality alternative to road
Es timated environmenta l b e n e f i t: Waghäusel (Germany) transport throughout Europe”
€1 3 .4 m (ov er three yea rs) to Bulgaria and Romania
Contact : into inter-modal ones via D I M I T A R I V A N O V ,
the Danube. INTERSHIPPING OF BULGARIA
di v anov @intershipping -b g .c o m

Freight travels by road from Maubeuge
and Waghäusel to Passau in Bavaria and
is transferred to river barges bound for
Vidin in Bulgaria where it is offloaded to
continue by road to Sofia and Bucharest.
For some return journeys the departure
port has been changed to Russe which
is more convenient for the Romanian car
plants which have started using the Via
Danube service, explains Ivanov.
turn since 2008 and the associated fall in
consumer demand.” Ivanov concludes:
“We coped with this and many other
problems; we came out on top. And we
set guidelines for the successful manage-
ment of the project for the following two
years.”

The original Intershipping river fleet of

four roll-on/roll-off vessels has increased
with the addition of four river-going
barges powered by two push-boat units.
“We are working with bigger clients”,
says Ivanov, “and this is more demand-

6
PAGE
 Common learning

L E S S PA P E R W O R K
= LESS COST
Short Sea XML

Arild Haraldsen, CEO of the NorStella Foun-
dation, explains the benefits of improved
data exchange for short-sea shipping.
X M L S TA N D S F O R E X T E N S I B L E
MARKUP LANGUAGE IN COMPUTER
P R O G R A M M I N G . W H AT I S T H E L I N K
W I T H S H O R T- S E A S H I P P I N G ?
cally along the short-sea logistics chain
in a single, shared format. Kristiansand
in Norway was the first European port to
implement Short Sea XML.
… AND THE BENEFITS?
The benefits to us were that the project
P r o j e c t n a m e:
Short Sea XML
S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
€900 000
D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
S e p t e m b e r 2006 t o S ept em ber 2008

would not have been possible without Marco Le a d p a r t n e r:

Administrative paperwork accounts for
20-30% of the cost of short-sea shipping,
so developing e-solutions is an obvious
way to bring down the costs. But it is not just
about cost savings. It is a means to an end
– moving goods from road to sea by mak-
ing short-sea shipping more competitive.
WHO LED THE PROJECT?
The Short Sea XML project was spear-
headed by NorStella, a non-profit founda-
tion for e-business and trade procedures.
NorStella is the official Norwegian contact
point for all international standardisation
activities in the field of electronic business
and trade facilitation. Norway is, of course,
not a member of the EU, but we were able
to take advantage of being from one of the
neighbouring countries which has special
relations with the EU. We are one of sever-
al countries which can benefit from Marco
Polo funding in this way.
W H AT W E R E T H E R E S U LT S …
By the time the project was over, some
40 companies were already using XML
– for exchanging messages electroni-
Polo funding. The benefits were more than N o r S t e l l a Fo u n d a t i on, O sl o (Nor w ay)
financial, however. Through the exposure O t h e r p a r t n e rs:
we obtained, we have become better known 27 f r o m e i g h t c o u n t r i es –
and built up ‘Short Sea XML’ as a brand. We sh i p p i n g c o m p a n i e s and shi pper s,
have also found synergies we might not sh o r t - se a sh i p p i n g pr om oti on bodi es,
otherwise have found with EU-funded p o r t a u t h o r i t i e s, st andar di sati on
research programmes and other Marco Polo b o d i e s, t e c h n o l o g y com pani es
projects promoting intermodality. C o n t a c t:
a r i l d . h a r a l d se n @ n o r st el l a. no
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE MARCO
POLO PROGRAMME TO OTHERS?
Definitely; primarily because it takes a
practical approach and (in the case of
projects like Short Sea XML) has a two-
year duration: this means that you have
to obtain practical results in a short time-
frame. This makes it complementary to
the research-oriented projects.
“We have also found synergies
we might not otherwise have
found with EU-funded research
programmes and other Marco Polo
projects promoting intermodality”
ARILD HARALDSEN,
C E O N O R S T E L L A F O U N D AT I O N

7
PAGE
 Rovaniemi

Luleå

Oulu
Uleåborg
SVER I GE

Umeå SUOM I

Östersund Vassa FINL AND Modal shift

A
NI
GULF OF BOTH

Härnösand

Sundsvall
Mikk
Sýt M

Hämeenlinna
Travastehus
Falun Gävle
Turku
Åbo Helsinki
Maarianhamina Helsingfors
Uppsala Mariehamn

Örebro
Västerås
Stockholm
Tallinn
M O R E F E R R Y S PA C E
FOR BIGGER TRUCKS
E A

Nyköping E E STI
inköping

CGTK
new route
old route

This project provides a full freight serv- Among the problems encountered during
Project name : ice over the shortest sea crossing be- the project, Lassfolk lists a paper work-
CG TK – C onsolidation o f Go o d s tween Finland and Sweden from Vaasa ers’ strike which reduced cargo volumes,
Trans port over the K va rke n St r a it s to Umea. Before the service started in and rising fuel prices.
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
2004, large trucks travelling between the
two countries often took the overland Lassfolk says the paperwork and report-
€6 0 0 0 0 0
route round the northern end of the Gulf ing requirements involved in projects
D uration of project gr a n t:
of Bothnia. This involved a distance of like his can on occasion be detailed and
Janua ry 2 004 to Dece mb e r 2 0 0 6
820 kilometres, compared with 90 kilome- time-consuming. But he adds: “The policy
Le ad partner : and objectives behind the Marco Polo
tres and a crossing time of four hours for
RG L ine, Vaasa (Finland ) programme are very good”.
the Kvarken Straits sea link.
O t her partner :
U m ea H amn Ab (Swede n ) One of the main problems was that the
Volum e of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: vessels serving the link were too small.
33 0 m tonne-kilometres “The Marco Polo grant made it possible
( t hree -y ear estimate) for us to buy the ship we needed to han-
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t: dle more and bigger trucks,” says RG Line
€7 .3 m (ov er three yea rs) CEO Börje Lassfolk, “Without the grant we
Contact :
would have had to buy a smaller vessel.”
borj e.las s folk@rgline.c o m
“The Marco Polo grant made it possible for us to buy
the ship we needed to handle more and bigger trucks”

BÖRJE LASSFOLK,
CEO RG LINE

“The new vessel had more lane metres for

carrying trucks and the gate and freight-
deck dimensions allowed for more and
larger loads. We doubled the cargo
volume during the project period as set
out in our project proposal”, says Lass-
folk. “With the additional capacity, we
were able to market the service more
intensively than before.”

8
PAGE
 Kiel
Rostock

Hamburg Schwerin

Bremen
Szczecin
Amsterdam
London
NEDERLAND Hannover
Potsdam
Berlin
Poz
Magdeburg
Calais B ELG I Ë Zielo
Bruxelles D EU TSCH L AND
Lille Brussel Düsseldorf
B ELG I Q U E Erfurt
Namur Dresden Wro
Amiens

Modal shift
Rouen
Wiesbaden Frankfurt a. M.
LUXEMBOURG Mainz
Worms Praha
Paris Châlons-en-Champagne
Metz Saarbrücken ČESK Á R EP U

Orléans Stuttgart
Strasbourg

München Linz Sankt Pölten

Dijon
Salzburg Eisenstadt
F R A N C E Bessançon Bregenz
Worgl Ö ST ER R EICH
Bern Innsbruck
S U I S S E Graz

Klagenfurt
Clermont-Ferrand Lyon
Aosta-Aoste Trento SLO V ENIJA
Ljubjana
Milano Trieste Zag
Torino Casale Padova H R V

B O T T L E D W AT E R
Venezia

e Genova
Bologna
Montpellier

BY THE TRAINLOAD
Monaco
H E
Marseille Firenze

A
GULF Ancona

D
Sirius 1
new route
old route

Rail is particularly suited for handing
single products that are transported in
large quantities like bottled water. With
the Sirius 1 project, the French mineral
water company, SA des Eaux Minérales
d’Evian, is switching to rail for the trans-
port of water from its Volvic spring in
central France to its German distribution
centre at Hockenheim, near Frankfurt – a
distance of 711 kilometres. From there, it is
distributed to final customers in Germany
by road. Trains return from Hockenheim
with empty crates. Previously the whole
journey in both directions was by road.
The modal shift means that 70% of the
average distance from Volvic to final des-
tinations in Germany is now covered by
rail. The company says that in a full year
of operation, the switch is the equiva-
lent of taking 10 000 trucks off the road.
The energy saved is enough to provide
lighting for a city of 320 000 people.
water to Germany via Hockenheim and a
second distribution centre in Duisburg for
the north of the country.”
“The switch to rail during Sirius 1 has
not affected our ability to maintain a high
service level concerning punctuality and
content of shipment. In this process,
Marco Polo has acted as a catalyst for
our own team and those of our partners.
Despite the complexity of implement-
ing the new network and a commercial
context which still favours road over rail,
rail transport remains at the heart of the
sustainable development strategy of
Evian and Volvic”, says Dumas.
P r o j e c t n a m e:
Sirius 1
S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
€560 000
D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
J a n u a r y 2008 t o D e c em ber 2010
Le a d p a r t n e r:
S A d e s E a u x M i n é r a l es d’ Evi an
( Fr a n c e )
O t h e r p a r t n e r:
D a n o n e Wa t e r s D e u t schl and Gm bH
( G e r m a n y)
Vo l u m e o f g o o d s sh i f t ed off the r oad:
341m t o n n e - ki l o m e t r es
( t h r e e - ye a r e st i m a t e )
E st i m a t e d e n vi r o n m ent al benefit :
€6. 9m ( o ve r t h r e e year s)
C o n t a c t:
j e a n - m a r c . d u m a s@ danone. com

Jean-Marc Dumas, supply “The switch to rail during Sirius 1

chain projects director
has not affected our ability to maintain
at Evian, says the project
is raising capacity from a high service level concerning punctuality
two trains a week at and content of shipment”
the end of 2008 to four a
week in 2010. Each train J E A N - M A R C D U M A S ,
carries 1 000 tonnes of S U P P L Y C H A I N P R O J E C T S D I R E C T O R ,
EVIAN
water. “Sirius 1 is the
first stage of an ambi-
tious supply chain re-engineering project.
In the 2010-2014 period, we intend to shift
to rail all shipments of Volvic and Evian

9
PAGE
 Cardiff Brem
Amsterdam

T
London
NEDERLAND Hannover

Calais B E LG I Ë
A
CHANNEL Bruxelles D E U TS
LISH
ENG Lille Brussel Düsseldorf
B E LG I Q U E
Namur
Amiens
Rouen
Caen Wiesbaden Frankfurt
LU XE M B O U RG Mainz
Worms
Paris Châlons-en-Champagne
Rennes Metz Saarbrücken

Orléans Stuttga
Strasbourg
Nantes

B A Y
Dijon
poitier
F R A N C E Bessançon Brege
O F Bern
Limoges S U I S S E
B I S C A Y Clermont-Ferrand Lyon
Santiago de Compostela Bordeaux
Aosta-Aoste
Oviedo
Santander
Bilbao
San Sebastián
Torino Casale
Milano
Modal shift
Vitoria-Gasteiz Toulouse Genova
orto Pamplona-Iruña Montpellier
Logroño Monaco
Valladolid
Marseille Firenz
Coimbra
ANDORRA GULF
Zaragora OF LIONS
T UG AL ESPA ÑA
Madrid CO RSE
Barcelona
Ajaccio
Toledo
a Mérida

Valencia
Palma de Mallorca
SARDEGNA
Sevilla I S L A S B AL E ARE S
Murcia
Cagliari
T Y R

G I B R A LTA R Almería M E D I T E
Tanger
C E U TA
R
R

B R I N G I N G TA N G I E R S C L O S E R
Alger
A
Tunis

E L MAG H R EB E L D JA Z ÂIR TO U N I S

Marocco Seaways

new route
old route

Before Italian shipping line, Grandi Navi Mediterranean rather than going straight
Project name : Veloci (GNV), launched its Ro/Pax serv- to Morocco and back. “This was really
M aro cco S eaways ice from Genoa to Tangiers in Morocco beyond our control,” Fabrizio points out,
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
via Barcelona, the goods it now carries “as we had made all the necessary ap-
€1 8 3 0 4 1 8
by sea took a longer overland route. From plications and enlisted the support of the
Italy, they went by road to Algeciras at Italian and Spanish authorities, but it took
D uration of project gr a n t:
the southern tip of Spain before crossing much longer than we felt it needed to.”
D ece mber 2006 to Dec e mb er 2 0 0 9
the Mediterranean.
Le ad partner :
G rand i Navi Veloci s.p.a ., Ge n o a ( I t a ly ) “The new route was “The availability of Marco Polo funding
O t her partner s: the result of analysing
made a critical difference to the initial
A gen cia Maritima Cond e min a s ( Sp a in ) , the commercial traffic
F. A .I. S erv ice S .C (Ita ly) between Italy and economics of the project”
Volum e of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: Morocco, and between
92 1 m tonne-kilometres Spain and Morocco, and F R A N C O F A B R I Z I O ,
GNV
( t hree -y ear estimate) of surveying operators,”
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t: says Franco Fabrizio of
€2 8 .8 m (ov er three yea rs) GNV. “This revealed a clear opening for As with any new product, it also took
Contact :
a cheaper and faster alternative.” time to convince customers that there is
f ranc o.fabriz io@gnv.it
a cheaper and better alternative to the
The service carries goods from the hinter- way they are used to doing things – even
land of both European ports – stretching though they might be saving as much as
as far as the Milan region in the case of It- 50% of their costs. “So, the availability
aly. These are generally consumer goods, of Marco Polo funding made a critical
but there is also machinery. “And we car- difference to the initial economics of the
ry raw materials for factories in Morocco, project,” says Fabrizio. “However, by
which then ship the finished goods back May 2009 we had exceeded expectations
by the same route,” adds Fabrizio. and added a second vessel on the route
earlier than we had originally planned.”
The project got off to a difficult start. GNV
had hoped to launch the service in Sep-
tember 2006, but had underestimated the
difficulties of getting the necessary per-
mits from the Moroccan authorities. It is
unusual for such trips to call at an addi-
tional port in Europe before crossing the

10
PAGE
 A
RR

S
E
SKAG Göteborg Jönköping
Visby

C
Ventspils
N O R T H

T I
Växjö Rīga
L
Halmstd Kalmar
S E A

A L
DA NMA RK Karlskrona
Šiauliai
Telšiai
Pa

B
København Klaipėda
Malmö
LIE T UVA
Tauragė
Kaun
R OS S IJS K A
Marijampo
Kiel F E D E R AC I J Aly
Rostock Gdańsk

Hamburg Schwerin Olsztyn

Bremen
Szczecin Białystok
Amsterdam Bydgoszcz

NEDERLAND Hannover
Potsdam
Berlin
Poznań
Magdeburg warszawa
POLS K A
BELGI Ë Zielona Góra

Modal shift Bruxelles DEU TSC HLA ND Łódż

ille Brussel Düsseldorf
Lublin
BELGI Q U E Erfurt
Namur Dresden Wrocław
ens Kielce
Opole
Wiesbaden Frankfurt a. M.
LUXEMBOURG Mainz Katowice
Worms Praha Kraków Rzeszów
âlons-en-Champagne
Metz Saarbrücken Č E S K Á R EPUB LIK A

Stuttgart
Strasbourg
S LOVE N S K Á
R E PUB LIK A
München Linz Sankt Pölten Wien
Bratislava
Dijon
Salzburg Eisenstadt
Bessançon Bregenz
Worgl ÖS T E R R E ICH
Bern Innsbruck Budapest
SU I SSE Graz MAGYAR OR S ZÁG
Klagenfurt
Lyon
Aosta-Aoste Trento S LO V E N IJA
Ljubjana
Milano Trieste Zagreb
Torino Casale Padova Venezia H R VATS K A

B OS N A I

MARCO POLO WAS

Genova Beograd
Bologna
pellier
Monaco S R B IJA
H E R CE GOVIN A
Marseille Firenze
Sarajevo

A
F Ancona

D
INDISPENSABLE
ONS Perugia

R
A

I
I TALI A Sofija
COR S E
L’Aquilla
T
Ajaccio I

T- R E X
new route
old route

When times are hard, a Marco Polo grant Not everything has gone according to
can make all the difference. T-REX (Trans- plan. IFB had hoped to be operating four P r o j e c t n a m e:
Romanian Express) rail freight services round trips a week by September 2008, T- R E X
between Belgium and Romania are an but stopped at three “when the global S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
example. “Without the Marco Polo pro- economic crisis put a – hopefully tem- €1 250 000
gramme, we would probably have started porary – stop to our ambitions for this
D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
the service, but with limited scope – one route and for building a much broader
S e p t e m b e r 2006 t o S ept em ber 2009
round trip reserved for one customer at intermodal network linking the Benelux
Le a d p a r t n e r:
an agreed price, and with a risk of stop- and Romania.”
I FB sa / n v, B r u sse l s ( B el gi um )
ping if competitive conditions changed
drastically,” says Tony Struyf, Interna- IFB admits it underestimated the competi- O t h e r p a r t n e r:
tional Business Development Manager tive responses from road freight opera- I n t e r c o n t a i n e r A u st r i a G esm bH
at IFB in Belgium. “With Marco Polo, tors, so “we actually only reached 84% ( A u st r i a )
we can offer a regular service not just of our modal shift volume targets in the Vo l u m e o f g o o d s sh i f t ed off the r oad:
to our main customer on 642m t o n n e - ki l o m e t r es
the route, but also to the “With Marco Polo, we can offer ( t h r e e - ye a r e st i m a t e )
market as a whole – and E st i m a t e d e n vi r o n m ent al benefit :
a regular service not just to our main
maintain it in difficult €12. 7m ( o ve r t h r e e year s)
times.” customer on the route, but also
C o n t a c t:
to the market as a whole – t . st r u yf @ i f b . b e
The new service is fast-
and maintain it in difficult times”
er than sending goods
by road – 42 hours T O N Y S T R U Y F ,
rather than 48 hours, I N T E R N A T I O N A L B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T
the timings are more M A N A G E R , I F B B E L G I U M
reliable and the service
is available over the weekend – when first year and 59% in the second,” says
Austrian and German roads are closed Struyf. “We nevertheless believe that
to trucks. “Goods loaded on the train achieving 65% of our targets on average
in Genk, in the hinterland of Antwerp, over the two years of operation is a very
on Friday evening will be delivered in good figure.”
Bucharest/Sofia on Monday morning.
This is ‘mission impossible’ by road,”
Struyf points out. IFB estimates that the
rail service is taking 11 500 trucks a year
off the road – or 225km of trucks head
to tail.

11
PAGE
 Taura
RO SSIJ SK A
Kiel F E D E R AC I J
Rostock Gdańsk

Hamburg Schwerin Olsztyn

Bremen
Szczecin Białystok
Bydgoszcz

AND Hannover
Potsdam
Berlin
Poznań
Magdeburg warszawa
P OLSK A
Zielona Góra
DE UTS CHLAND Łódż
Düsseldorf
Lublin
Erfurt Dresden Wrocław
Kielce
Opole
Wiesbaden Frankfurt a. M.
U RG Mainz
Worms Praha
Katowice
Kraków Rzeszów Modal shift
Saarbrücken ČESK Á RE P U BLIK A

Stuttgart
ourg
SLO V E NSK Á
RE P U BLIK A
München Linz Sankt Pölten Wien
Bratislava
Salzburg Eisenstadt
Bregenz
Worgl ÖSTERR E IC H
Bern Innsbruck Budapest
S U I SSE Graz MAG YA RO RSZÁG
Klagenfurt

osta-Aoste Trento SLOVENIJ A

Ljubjana
Milano Trieste Zagreb
Casale Padova Venezia HR VATSK A

Genova
Bologna
BOSNA I

HE RC E G OV INA
SRBIJ A
Beograd
RAIL CUTS TIME
AND RAISES QUALITY
Firenze
Sarajevo
A

Ancona
D

P i
R

L . O . G . I . S . T. I . C .
new route
old route

Are you small but smart? Then Marco arrival time – and delays or problems.
Project name : Polo could be for you. “The Marco Polo Our customers can optimise their hu-
Lo gis tic O perational n e twor k programme is a way for smaller but man and economic resources, and their
f or G as Innovative Su p p ly smart operators to take part in an am- customers can make plans based on
and Trans port between Ita ly bitious project,” says Furio Bombardi, ‘just-in-time’ logistics.”
and C entral Europe – L.O.G.I .S.T.I .C. Sales Manager at FS Logistica in Milan.
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t: “Without Marco Polo,
€4 8 7 3 7 4 I don’t think all the part- “The Marco Polo programme is a way
D uration of project gr a n t: ners in our project would
for smaller but smart operators
Janua ry 2 006 to Janu a ry 200 9 have come together.”
Le ad partner :
to take part in an ambitious project”
FS L ogis tica s.p.a. (ex-Ca rg o Ch e mic a l) , The project had two
M i lan (Italy) other major benefits: F U R I O B O M B A R D I ,
O t her partner s:
“It shortened the time S A L E S M A N A G E R ,
FS LOGISTICA, MILAN
M ontana Gas GmbH (Ge rma n y ) , Pr ima g a z to break-even point and
Central Europe GmbH (Au str ia ) , Tr e n it a lia was an opportunity to
s. p. a. (Italy) introduce new technology to the logistics It was not all plain sailing. Market condi-
Volum e of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: industry,” by developing and testing a new tions changed in 2007 and 2008 in ways
269m tonne-kilometres (three-year estimate) GPS tracking and tracing system for main- LOGISTIC could not have foreseen,
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t:
taining control of shipments of hazardous and the project fell short of its targets.
€5 .2 m (ov er three yea rs) materials over a wide geographic area. “Despite the difficulties, the LPG transport
contracts were extended even after the
Contact : f.bombardi@fslo g is t ic a .it
The project took advantage of rising project came to an end, so I am hopeful,”
demand for LPG (liquefied petroleum says Bombardi, “not only that the service
gas) in central and eastern Europe, and will continue in the years to come, but
falling consumption in Italy at a time when that the model can be extended to other
production was rising as a by-product of dangerous goods in future.”
increased diesel fuel and petrol output.
A rail service existed, but was not com-
petitive because it was based on single,
ad hoc loads. LOGISTIC launched a dedi-
cated block train service – 12-14 wagons
at a time.

“We not only cut transport time from Italy

to hubs in the Czech Republic and Croatia,
but offered real-time information on

12
PAGE
 Dublin
ÉIR E Baile Átha Cliath

U NIT ED

A
KING D OM
C E LT I C S E A

L
Cardiff
Amsterdam

T
London
NEDERLAND

Calais BE LG IË

A
CHANNEL Bruxelles D
LISH
ENG Lille Brussel Düsseldorf
BE LG IQ U E
Namur
Amiens
Rouen
Caen Wiesbaden
LU X E M BO U R G M
W
Paris Châlons-en-Champagne
Rennes Metz Saarbrücken

Modal shift B A Y
Nantes
Orléans Strasbourg

Dijon
poitier
F R A N C E Bessançon
O F Bern
Limoges SU ISSE
B I S C A Y Clermont-Ferrand Lyon
Santiago de Compostela Bordeaux
Aosta-Aoste
Oviedo
M
Santander
Torino Casale
Bilbao
San Sebastián

Vitoria-Gasteiz Toulouse Geno

Pamplona-Iruña Montpellier
Logroño Monaco
Valladolid
Marseille

oimbra
ANDORRA GULF
Zaragora OF LIONS
G A L ES PA ÑA
Madrid COR S E
Barcelona
Ajaccio
Toledo

A F R E I G H T- O N LY Mérida

Valencia

WEEKEND FERRY
Palma de Mallorca
S A R D EG N A
Sevilla I SLAS BALE A R E S
Murcia
Cagliari
T

Gulf Stream
new route
old route

Gulf Stream is a Marco Polo project
offering a motorway-of-the-sea alterna-
tive for freight traffic between northern
Spain and southern England. It has two
special features:
> It is a freight-only roll-on/roll-off service.
This means that trucks and unaccom-
panied trailers do not have to compete
for space with tourist vehicles during
the holiday season.
> The service operates one return sailing
every weekend between the Spanish
port of Santander and Poole on the Eng-
lish south coast, so as to take advantage
of the weekend ban on heavy trucks
using the French national road network.
According to Brittany Ferries, which op-
erates the service, the door-to-door cost
and duration is less than overland transit
with the project business plan. “Economic
conditions force us to remain very atten-
tive to customer needs and to be able to
propose innovative solutions which help
their profitability and their green image”,
he says.
“Ingrained habits are sometimes hard to
break. We have to convince clients to test
for themselves the advantages of the new
service,” says Potier. “We show them our
commercial operations on the ground.
And we try hard to raise awareness
among transporters and logistics firms
of the cost differentials and productivity
gains a direct sea link can provide.”
P r o j e c t n a m e:
Gulf Stream
S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
€870 077
D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
M a r c h 2008 t o M a r ch 2011
Le a d p a r t n e r:
B r i t t a n y Fe r r i e s, R o scof f (Fr ance)
O t h e r p a r t n e rs:
P u e r t o d e S a n t a n d er ( S pai n),
P o o l e H a r b o u r ( U K ) , B r i t tany Fer r i es
( U K ) & B r i t t a n y Fe r r i es ( Spai n)
Vo l u m e o f g o o d s sh i f t ed off the r oad:
435m t o n n e - ki l o m e t r es
( t h r e e - ye a r e st i m a t e )
E st i m a t e d e n vi r o n m ent al benefit:
€12. 1m ( o ve r t h r e e year s)
C o n t a c t:
f r a n c o i s. p o t i e r @ b r i tt any-fer r i es. fr

via France. The main us-

ers of the service are “Economic conditions force us to remain
transport firms based in very attentive to customer needs
Spain and Portugal at
the southern end and UK
and to be able to propose innovative
and Irish hauliers at the solutions which help their profitability
English end. The service and their green image”
eases congestion at the
Franco-Spanish frontier F R A N C O I S P O T I E R ,
and at the Channel ports. R & D M A N A G E R , B R I T T A N Y F E R R I E S

Francois Potier, R&D manager at Brittany

Ferries, says the results of the first phase
of the project are encouraging with a ca-
pacity utilisation of 75% which is in line

13
PAGE
 NORGE Falun Gävle

Oslo
Uppsa
Västerås
Karlstad
Örebro Stoc

Nyköping
Linköping
AK
E RR
SKAG Göteborg Jönköping
Vi
N O R T H
Växjö

Catalyst action
Halmstd Kalmar
S E A
DANMARK Karlskrona

København
Malmö

Kiel
Rostock Gdańsk

Hamburg Schwerin

Bremen
Szczecin
Amsterdam By

NEDERLAND Hannover
Potsdam
Berlin
Poznań
Magdeburg
P
E LG I Ë Zielona Góra
Bruxelles DEUTSCHLAND

FIXED LINK DELIVERS

Brussel Düsseldorf
B E LG I QUE Erfurt
Namur Dresden Wrocław

Opole

THE GOODS
Wiesbaden Frankfurt a. M.
LUXEM BOURG Mainz Katowic
Worms Praha
-en-Champagne

Scandinavian Shuttle
new route
old route

The Scandinavian Shuttle uses the Oeresund UBQ director Sven-Erik Andersson says
Project name : fixed link, one of Europe’s biggest infra- the different rules and regulations of the
Scandinav ian Shuttle structure projects co-funded by the EU, to national railway authorities in Europe
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
help create a viable rail freight corridor be- were a major obstacle. “Although traffic
€2 5 0 0 0 0 0
tween continental Europe and Scandinavia. volumes are rising and the quality of the
It targets the central stretch of the corridor service is constantly improving, we have
D uration of project gr a n t:
– from the Ruhr region of Germany to south- found that rail transport is much harder
June 2 0 0 6 to May 2010
ern and central Sweden via Denmark. to handle than more conventional road
Le ad partner :
U BQ A B of Malmoe, Swe d en The Scandinavian Shut- “The project has given us a higher market
O t her partner s: tle operates a daily rail
profile as an environment-friendly company
Van D ieren (Netherland s) & NGI L , service with fixed jour-
O eres und Logistic (Swe d e n) ney times, providing and has raised awareness of environment
Volum e of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: just-in-time goods deliv- issues among our staff”
92 3 m tonne-kilometres eries in both directions.
( f our-y ear estimate) It uses the Oeresund S V E N - E R I K A N D E R S S O N ,
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t: tunnel and bridge be- U B Q D I R E C T O R
€2 7 .5 m (ov er four years) tween Copenhagen and
Contact :
Malmoe. Before the Scandinavian Shut- transport”, he says. Asked about the ben-
Sv en-Erik @ubq.se
tle, the main option for customers was a efits for UBQ, he says “the project has
combination of truck and ferry services given us a higher market profile as an
between Germany and Sweden. environment-friendly company and has
raised awareness of environment issues
The project sets out to provide the rail
among our staff”.
transit service with the levels of qual-
ity and reliability associated with road
transport. Each container or trailer has
a mobile phone module with a GPS card
reporting its position in near-real time to
a Reliability Control Centre to facilitate
cargo track-and-trace. The train locomo-
tive is equipped to cope with the switch
between the Danish and Swedish elec-
tricity and Automatic Train Control (ATC)
systems in the middle of the Oeresund
fixed link. The Scandinavian Shuttle is
open to any train operator wishing to use it.

14
PAGE
 Common learning
E-LEARNING FILLS
SKILLS GAP
E W I TA
Project Manager Sabine Piribauer of
lead partner via donau shows how train-
ing is vital for changing minds and modes
on Europe’s great waterways.
W H Y D I D Y O U D E V E L O P T H E E W I TA
PROJECT AND ITS E-LEARNING
P L AT F O R M S ?
Europe’s inland waterway sector is facing
a skills and labour shortage at a critical
time. EWITA aims to fill the gap by creating
a common European training concept and
practical training programmes for intermo-
dal inland waterway transport. It covers
both the Danube and Rhine corridors.
Spreading knowledge on this highly envi-
ronment-friendly and cost-effective mode
of transport and making it easily accessi-
ble, helps shift traffic from roads to inland
waterways in the longer term. EWITA of-
fers the latest training concepts and state-
of-the-art e-learning platforms for water-
borne logistics in Europe. They are tailored
in a flexible way to interface with the train-
ing needs of future inland shipping opera-
tors and interested transport users.
I T T H I S PA R T O F A L O N G E R - T E R M
PROCESS?
EWITA stands for European web platforms
and training concepts for inter-modal
inland waterway transport. It is a direct
follow-up to an earlier Marco Polo project
eWIT, which ran from December 2003 to
15
PAGE
February 2006. The budget for the new
project has been more than doubled. P r o j e c t n a m e: E WI TA
S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant: €756 445
The initial programme developed a Euro-
pean concept for training on intermodal D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
inland waterway transport which it then J u n e 2008 t o M a y 2010
applied to the Danube corridor via an In- Le a d p a r t n e r: vi a d o nau
land Navigation eLearning System (INeS). ( Ö st e r r e i c h i sc h e Wa sser str assen-
G e se l l sc h a f t m b H , V i enna (Austr i a)
“We very much liked O t h e r p a r t n e rs: S t i cht i ng P r oj ecten
B i n n e n va a r t ( N e t h e r l ands), Eur opean
the Marco Polo focus I n t e r m o d a l A sso c i a t i on ( Bel gi um ),
on operational activities Fo r sc h u n g - & E n t w i ckl ungs- Gm bH,
related to the economy C a m p u s S t e yr FH O Ö ( A ustr i a),
I m a g i n a t i o n C o m p u ter S er vi ces
and the business sector rather
( A u st r i a ) , P r o m o t i e B i nnenvaar t
than on research projects” V l a a n d e r e n ( B e l g i u m) , R om ani an
M a r i t i m e Tr a i n i n g C ent r e, C ER ONAV
SABINE PIRIBAUER, ( R o m a n i a ) , R e g i o n a al O plei di ngen
PROJECT MANAGER, VIA DONAU
C e n t r u m Z e e l a n d ( Net herl ands),
S c h i f f a h r t s- Ve r l a g H ansa C . S chr oedter
& C o ( G e r m a n y)
EWITA refines and expands the concept,
updates the INeS Danube, and creates a Contact: Sabine.Piribauer@via-donau.org
similar platform, INeS RMS, for the Rhine-
Meuse-Scheldt corridor. Both platforms
are available in English, German, Dutch
and/or Romanian.
HOW DID MARCO POLO HELP?
We very much liked the Marco Polo focus
on operational activities related to the
economy and the business sector rather
than on research projects. Practical
projects with industrial partners can be
handled in a less complicated way.
 DA N MA R K Karlskrona

B
København
Malmö

Kiel
Rostock Gdańsk

Hamburg Schwerin

Bremen
Szczecin
Amsterdam Bydg

NEDERLAND Hannover
Potsdam
Berlin
Poznań
Magdeburg
P O
B E LGIË Zielona Góra
Bruxelles D EU TS C H L A N D Ł

Catalyst action
e Brussel Düsseldorf
B E LGIQ U E Erfurt
Namur Dresden Wrocław
ns
Opole
Wiesbaden Frankfurt a. M.
LU X E MB OURG Mainz Katowice
Worms Praha
lons-en-Champagne
Metz Saarbrücken ČESK Á R EP UB L IK A

Stuttgart
Strasbourg
SLO
R EP
München Linz Sankt Pölten Wien
Bratislava
Dijon
Salzburg Eisenstadt
Bessançon Bregenz
Worgl ÖST ER R EICH
Bern Innsbruck
S U I S S E Graz MAGYA
Klagenfurt
Lyon

A ONE-STOP SHOP
Aosta-Aoste Trento SLO V ENIJA
Ljubjana
Milano Trieste Zagreb
Torino Casale Padova Venezia H R VATSK A

ellier
Genova
Bologna
B O SNA I
FOR NORTH-SOUTH FREIGHT
ItaloExpress
new route
old route

When outside evaluators looked at the in Denmark on the Danish-German border

Project name : ItaloExpress project for the European once terminal improvements there were
I t al oEx press Commission, they commented positively ready. “We are particularly proud,” Lüttig
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
on the punctuality and reliability of this adds, “of having turned what was initially
€3 5 0 0 0 0 0
new rail service from northern Germany a project into a sustainable product.”
to northern Italy. These had previously
D uration of project gr a n t: The barriers to a successful new service
been major issues on this route. By in-
Janua ry 2 005-Decemb e r 200 8
troducing tracked-and-traced intermodal were economic, technical, operational –
Le ad partner : and psychological. “We had to overcome
service using its own locomotives and
TX L ogis tik AG, Bad Ho n n ef ( Ge r ma n y ) the reluctance of competing firms to bun-
wagons, ItaloExpress has been able to
O t her partners: offer change not only in reliability and dle their shipments on the same train, and
Trenitalia s.p.a. (Italy), punctuality, but also in the form of flexibil- fears about loss of flexibility compared
D H L E x press (S weden ) ity and transparent pricing. to the road. Recognising that promoting
Vo lume of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: intermodality means changing mindsets
1, 35 b illion tonne-kilo me tres “We offer a one-stop-shop between was for us a key part of the project, and
( f our-y ear estimate) freight forwarders. The three-stop-shop, it is important to understand that,” Lüttig
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t: involving operator, rail company and says.
€2 8 .3 m (ov er four years) terminal, is a thing of the past,” says
Contact :
Thorsten Lüttig, Divisional Manager at TX
t . l uettig@txlogistik.de
Logistik, the lead company and a German
private-sector affiliate
of the Italian railways. “We offer a one-stop-shop between
Its partners were the
freight forwarders. The three-stop-shop,
Italian railways and DHL
Express Sweden. “The involving operator, rail company
prospect of Marco Polo and terminal, is a thing of the past”
funding created lever-
age in getting all the T H O R S T E N L Ü T T I G ,
partners on board,” says D I V I S I O N A L M A N A G E R ,
TX LOGISTIK
Lüttig.

There were early difficulties in finding

enough wagons, but between end-2004
and mid-2008, the frequency was in-
creased from two to seven trains a week
– primarily from Lübeck to Verona in Italy
early on, but then regularly from Padborg

16
PAGE
 GULF OF BO
Sundsvall
Mikkeli
Sýt Michel

Hämeenlinna
Travastehus
E Falun Gävle
Turku
Åbo Helsinki
Oslo Maarianhamina Helsingfors
Uppsala Mariehamn
Västerås Tallinn
Karlstad
Örebro Stockholm

S E A
Nyköping E E ST I
Linköping
AK
Göteborg Jönköping
Visby

C
Ventspils

Modal shift

T I
Växjö Rīga
L AT VI J A
Halmstd Kalmar

A L
K Karlskrona
Šiauliai
Telšiai
Panevėžys

B
København Klaipėda
Malmö Utena
L I E T UVA
Tauragė
Kaunas
R OSSI J SK A Vilnius
Marijampolė
el F E D E R AC I J Alytus
Rostock Gdańsk Minsk

Schwerin Olsztyn
BE L AR U
Szczecin Białystok
Bydgoszcz

Berlin
Potsdam
Poznań
burg warszawa
POL SK A
Zielona Góra

B A LT I C S H U T T L E
AND Łódż
Lublin
Dresden Wrocław
Kielce

WINS BACK BUSINESS

Opole

Katowice
Praha Kraków Rzeszów

BaSS
new route
old route

Using short-sea routes for shipping cargo network to/from different destinations in
is, of course, desirable on environmental the Baltic Sea area. Tesch says: “progress P r o j e c t n a m e:
grounds, but at the end of the day it has was fast – in the first nine months, truck B a l t i c S e a S h u t t l e ( B aS S )
to make economic sense as well. This is and trailer traffic between Rostock and S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
why Scandlines turned to the Marco Polo Ventspils doubled and went up by another €1 316 000
Programme for short-term support to ad- 35% the following year”
D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
just to increased competition from road
J a n u a r y 2006 t o J a nuar y 2009
transport for its Baltic freight services “Without Marco Polo funding to under-
write the start-up costs in the early years, Le a d p a r t n e r:
after the EU enlargement of 2004.
I don’t think we would have increased S c a n d l i n e s D e u t sc h l and Gm bH,
The aim of BaSS was to increase the the frequency,” says Tesch. “And we R o st o c k- Wa r n e m ü n d e ( G er m any)
share of sea transport in the overall were successful. Traffic did move back O t h e r p a r t n e rs:
freight traffic between Germany and the to the sea and we met all our Marco Polo H a f e n - E n t w i c kl u n g s gesell schaft
Baltic states, and on R o st o c k m b H ( G e r m any) ;
to Poland and Russia. “Without Marco Polo funding to underwrite Fr e e P o r t o f Ve n t sp il s ( Latvi a)
An existing service be- the start-up costs in the early years, I don’t Vo l u m e o f g o o d s sh i f t ed off the r oad:
tween Rostock (Germa- 658m t o n n e - ki l o m e t r es
think we would have increased the frequency”
ny) and Liepaja (Latvia) ( t h r e e - ye a r e st i m a t e )
was moved to Ventspils, E st i m a t e d e n vi r o n m ent al benefit :
GERNOT TESCH,
another Latvian port, D E P U T Y L I N E M A N A G E R €20. 8m ( o ve r t h r e e year s)
and expanded through S W E D E N / B A L T I C U M / F I N L A N D , S C A N D L I N E S C o n t a c t:
the deployment of an ad- g e r n o t . t e sc h @ sc a n d l i nes. de
ditional vessel. This doubled capacity and project milestones. In general, the first
frequency (from two to four departures aim should always be to get rid of the
per port and per week. Since then, a third competitive disadvantage of sea traffic
ferry has been employed on the route. compared to land traffic, in order to make
support programmes like Marco Polo re-
“By moving to Ventspils, we were able dundant in the long-term.”
to offer customers better port infrastruc-
ture”, says Gernot Tesch, Deputy Line
Manager Sweden/Balticum/Finland for
Scandlines, “and to develop this port as a
hub for all Scandlines activities in eastern
Europe”. At the Rostock end, one of the
attractions for this traffic was the ability
to transfer not just to rail and road, but to
utilise synergies with the existing route

17
PAGE
 Ha

Cardiff
Amsterdam
London
NEDERLAND Hannov

Calais BELGI Ë
CHANNEL Bruxelles DEUT
LISH
ENG Lille Brussel Düsseldorf
BELG I QUE
Namur
Amiens
Rouen
Caen Wiesbaden Frankf
LUX EMBO URG Mainz
Worms
Paris Châlons-en-Champagne
Rennes Metz Saarbrücken

Nantes
Orléans Strasbourg
Stut
Catalyst action
Dijon
poitier
F R A N C E Bessançon Br
Bern
Limoges SUI SSE
A Y Clermont-Ferrand Lyon
Bordeaux
Aosta-Aoste

Milano
Torino Casale
San Sebastián

Toulouse Genova
Pamplona-Iruña Montpellier

I N N O VAT I V E C O N TA I N E R S
Monaco
Marseille Fi
ANDORRA GULF

EASE MODAL SHIFT

Zaragora OF LIONS

FGI System
new route
old route

Production of glass is not evenly distrib- gium to Spain and Portugal. As the Span-
Project name : uted across Europe. Broadly speaking, ish railway gauge is different from that of
FG I S y s tem the production plants are in northern France and Belgium, the containers must
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
Europe, in particular Belgium, France be transferred to trucks at the Franco-
€3 0 0 0 0 0 0
and the Netherlands, and the consum- Spanish border. Over the life of the project,
ers, of course, are everywhere. This cre- Lannutti hopes to shift more than half a
D uration of project gr a n t:
ates a need for specialist long-distance million tonnes from road to rail in trans-
A pri l 2 0 0 8 to April 2013
transport. ports from Belgium to Italy and Spain.
Le ad partner :
La nnutti s .p.a., C uneo (Ita ly) Jumbo sheets of flat “The Marco Polo funding was important to us,
O t her partner : glass – 6m x 3.21m – in-
because it reduces the risk associated
La nnutti s prl (France) tended mainly for the
Volum e of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: construction and auto- with a highly innovative investment
49 6 m tonne-kilometres motive industries are and allows us to give a higher technical
( f i v e-y ear estimate) normally carried by road content to our services”
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t: in specially designed
€9 .9 m (ov er five years) trailers (inloaders) with F R A N C O G H I G L I O N E ,
hydraulic systems and L A N N U T T I
Contact :
f ranc o.ghiglione@lann u tti.it
air bags to cushion them
al es s andra.lannutti@la n u tti.it
from shocks. The FGI System project is for “While all this may sound simple,”
the first time deploying a modified design Ghiglione adds, “it actually required
of the special inloaders and using cranes investment in a new intermodal fleet.
to transfer them from the road to flatbed We believe the project has good long-
railway wagons. term prospects, but the Marco Polo
funding was important to us, because it
“This made intermodal transport possi- reduces the risk associated with a highly
ble for the first time,” Franco Ghiglione of innovative investment and allows us to
lead company Lannutti points out. “It also give a higher technical content to our
has the added benefit that more weight services.”
can be carried per inloader. There are
weight restrictions when we ship by road.
Between Belgium and Italy, the first route
used for the new system, there is a weight
gain per inloader of about 25%.”

The intermodality aspect is particularly

crucial for Lannutti’s shipments from Bel-

18
PAGE
 Common learning

ALL ABOARD
FOR INTER-MODAL LEARNING
GLAD

Eduard Rodés, Director of the Escola Authority into a school with a European
Europea de Short Sea Shipping in dimension. We take students from seven P r o j e c t n a m e:
Barcelona, describes his experience different EU countries. G LA D – G r e e n Lo g i st i cs Acti on
with Marco Polo. & D e p l o ym e n t
W H AT D O Y O U T E A C H ?
S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
W H AT I S T H E E S C O L A E U R O P E A
€1 355 152
DE SHORT SEA SHIPPING? GLAD provides two courses: Motorways
of the Sea Training (MOST) and SURCO, D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
As the name suggests, we teach short- M a r c h 2009 t o Fe b r uar y 2011
Simple Use Railway Connections. Each
sea shipping – combining hands-on train- four-day course is stand-alone, but they Le a d p a r t n e r:
ing and high academic standards. We run can be combined over a week. During E sc o l a E u r o p e a d e S hor t S ea S hi ppi ng,
courses for students and people working the first two years, we ran three short- Barcelona (Spain)
in the industry on board vessels plying sea shipping courses – an introduction to O t h e r p a r t n e rs:
the Mediterranean between Barcelona in maritime logistics, basic operations and P o r t A u t h o r i t y o f B a r cel ona (S pai n),
Spain and Civitavecchia in Italy. We be- services, and global logistics operations. G r i m a l d i C o m p a g n i a di Navi gaz i one
lieve this approach makes us unique. a n d G r a n d i N a vi Ve loci ( Ital y),
W H AT I S D I F F E R E N T N O W F R O M P o r t A u t h o r i t i e s o f R om e/Laz i o
W H AT H A S B E E N T H E R O L E W H E N Y O U S TA R T E D ? a n d G e n o a ( I t a l y) , F er r ocar r i l es
OF THE MARCO POLO PROGRAMME? d e V i a E st r e c h a - FE V E ( S pai n)
We are emphasising inter-modality much C o n t a c t:
Marco Polo first gave us €1m for an initial more. We have an additional partner, e d u a r d _ r o d e s@ a p b . es
two-year project which has been com- FEVE, a Spanish railway company, giv-
pleted. We successfully bid for another ing us on-train classrooms in addition to
two-year grant of €1.3m
to cover the second
“We teach students how to measure
phase known as GLAD.
The Marco Polo grants the true long-term environmental cost
met just over one third of different forms of transport”
of our costs initially and
almost half the second E D U A R D R O D É S , D I R E C T O R O F T H E E S C O L A
time. Those are short E U R O P E A D E S H O R T S E A S H I P P I N G , B A R C E L O N A
time spans in terms of
what we would like for forward planning our classrooms at sea. The environmental
purposes, but Marco Polo has neverthe- content of the courses is also greater. We
less been vital for us. We would otherwise teach students how to measure the true
not have been able to expand the similar long-term environmental cost of different
local courses run by the Barcelona Port forms of transport.

19
PAGE
Rennes Metz Saarbrücken

Stuttgart
Orléans Strasbourg
antes

München
Dijon
poitier
F R A N C E Bessançon Bregenz
Worgl
Bern Innsbruck
Limoges S UIS S E
K
Clermont-Ferrand Lyon
Bordeaux
Aosta-Aoste Trento

Milano Tri
Torino Casale Padova Venezi

Toulouse Genova
Bologna
Modal shift
Montpellier
Monaco
Marseille Firenze
ANDORRA GULF Ancona
OF LIONS Perugia

ITA L IA
COR S E
Barcelona
Ajaccio
Roma

Cam

Palma de Mallorca
S ARDE G N A

A MARK OF QUALITY
I S LA S B A LE A R E S

Cagliari
T Y R R H E N

M E D I T E S E A
R
The WestMed Bridge

new route
old route

Why go by road through northern Italy, “We transported 4% fewer trailers in

Project name : across southern France and down the the first year than we had expected,”
The Wes tMed Bridge Spanish coast to get from Civitavecchia Kyprianou admits. “Nevertheless, we are
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
just north of Rome to Barcelona in Spain, optimistic about this route, particularly
€4 5 0 0 0 0 0
when you can go across the Mediterra- once further upgrades to road and rail
nean? Even if the ultimate destination is links to the hinterland at either end and
D uration of project gr a n t:
Lisbon, the new route still makes sense. planned improvements to port infrastruc-
A pri l 2 0 0 8 to March 2011
This was the thinking behind the Marco ture are complete.”
Le ad partner :
Polo Eurostars project, which ran from
A t l antica S .p.A. di Na vig a zio n e , Despite short-term setbacks, Kyprianou
2004-2006 and launched this route for Ro-
N aple s (Italy) is enthusiastic about the Marco Polo
Ro transport.
O t her partner : programme: “The investment cost of new
G ri ma ldi L ogistica Esp a ñ a ( Sp a in ) That success gave rise to a succes- ships to upgrade the service is huge, so
Volum e of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: sor project: The Westmed Bridge – an the programme has brought us significant
2. 25 b illion tonne-kilo me tres improved service with bigger vessels financial benefit in the start-up phase.
( t hree -y ear estimate) increasing loading capacity for rolling Being awarded Marco Polo funding
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t: freight (accompanied and unaccom- is also a form of quality mark for our
€6 6 .5 m (ov er three yea rs) panied trailers) by 65%. It is over 40% business.”
Contact :
cheaper and one-third faster by sea than
Ky prianou.paul@grimald i.na p o li.it
by moving the same freight by road.

“We are faster and “Being awarded Marco Polo funding is also
cheaper, and this is a
a form of quality mark for our business”
more reliable service
with departures and
PAUL KYPRIANOU,
arrivals on fixed days E X T E R N A L R E L A T I O N S M A N A G E R ,
of the week and at G R I M A L D I G R O U P
fixed times,” says Paul
Kyprianou, External Relations Manager
for the Grimaldi Group. “Over the life of
the project, we expect the equivalent of
72 585 trucks or trailers to be shifted
from road to sea.”

Launching when fuel prices were soar-

ing and the world economy was enter-
ing a major downturn had an impact.

20
PAGE
 Amsterdam

Modal shift
NEDERLAND

B E L G I Ë Bruxelles
Düsseldo
e Brussel

D E F I N I T E LY W O R T H BELGIQU E
Namur
THE EFFORT
DZRS
new route
old route

The procedures associated with Marco for the Far East and the UK. In Duisburg,
Polo funding can sometimes appear too they can transfer directly to a Vienna- P r o j e c t n a m e:
much of a challenge for some companies. Budapest rail shuttle or make use of in- D Z R S – D u i sb u r g - Z eebr ugge
Complaints about the Brussels bureauc- ternational combined transport networks Rail Shuttle
racy are not uncommon. But Norbert operating out of a dedicated terminal. S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
Rekers, Director of Sales €503 847
for the Duisport Agency “We would reapply.
D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
in Germany says things
O c t o b e r 2006 t o O c t ober 2009
have got better: “We The hurdles to getting the money
Le a d p a r t n e r:
would reapply. On the have been reduced; on the other hand,
D u i sp o r t A g e n c y G mbH ,
one hand, the hurdles to the amount of money has been increased”
D u i sb u r g ( G e r m a n y)
getting the money have
been reduced; on the N O R B E R T R E K E R S , O t h e r p a r t n e rs: P o r t C onnect NV
other hand, the amount D I R E C T O R O F S A L E S F O R T H E D U I S P O R T A G E N C Y , ( B e l g i u m ) , C M A / C G M ( B el gi um ),
I FB I n t e r Fe r r y B o a t ( B el gi um )
of money has been in- G E R M A N Y
creased. All in all, that Vo l u m e o f g o o d s sh i f t ed off the r oad:
makes the benefit very worthwhile for The traffic shifted from road to rail ex- 252m t o n n e - ki l o m e t r es
new intermodal projects.” In the case ceeded forecasts by well over 5% in ( t h r e e - ye a r e st i m a t e )
of the DZRS (Duisburg-Zeebrugge Rail the first two years. Duisport was able E st i m a t e d e n vi r o n m ent al benefit :
Shuttle) project, the benefit covers just to go from three services each way per €4. 0m ( o ve r t h r e e year s)
under half the losses anticipated in the week to four within three months – “fast- C o n t a c t:
first three years of operation. The project er than we had expected,” says Rekers. n o r b e r t . r e ke r s@ d u i spor t .de
is taking the equivalent of more than “The final objective was five times a
25 000 standard containers of cargo off week, and we achieved this in 2008. We
the roads each year. unfortunately had to cut back to four again
once EU economies entered recession in
DZRS provides a train link between the 2008-2009, but the project is still meeting
world’s largest inland container port – its traffic shift targets.”
Duisburg (Duisport) – and two of northern
Europe’s major seaports, Zeebrugge and
Antwerp. Previously the containers had
a difficult road journey. “Congestion was
actually a threat to the growth of traffic,”
Rekers says.

In Zeebrugge, containers arrive at termi-

nals for direct transfer to ships - mainly

21
PAGE
 KING DO M
LT I C S E A
Cardiff
Amsterdam
London
NE

Calais BE LG IË
ANNEL
L ISH CH Bruxe
ENG Lille Bruss
BE LG I Q
Na
Amiens
Rouen
Caen
LU
Rennes
Paris Châlons-en-Champagn
M
Motorways of the sea
Orléans
Nantes

B A Y
Dijon
poitier
F R A N C E Bessan
O F
Limoges

B I S C A Y Clermont-Ferrand Lyon
Bordeaux

do
Santander
Bilbao

Vitoria-Gasteiz
San Sebastián

Toulouse
EU SUPPORT ENHANCES
CREDIBILITY
Pamplona-Iruña Montpellier
Logroño Mo
M ill

Ro-Ro Past France

new route
old route

“European Union support is important them. Then many trailers did not have
Project name : for us and sends a powerful signal to the ferry eyes (fixture points) for lashing them
Ro-Ro P as t France market that our project has a European di- on board the vessel. In addition, some
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
mension.” For Karel Van Zijl from the lead operators were not familiar with unac-
€6 8 0 0 0 0 0
company, Spliethoff’s Bevrachtingskan- companied transport (trailers without the
toor of Amsterdam, this is one of the big driving unit and driver). We spent time
D uration of project gr a n t:
benefits of the Marco Polo programme. helping hauliers from Spain and Portugal
September 2007 to De c e mbe r 2 0 1 1
and those from the northern end of the link
Le ad partner : As its name indicates, this project pro- to sort out how they could provide driving
Spli ethoff’s Bevrachtin g ska n t o o r, vides a motorway-of-the-sea alternative units for each other’s trailers.”
A m s terdam (Netherla n d s) to get freight off the congested interna-
O t her partner s: tional road transit corridor across France. “We expected to break even after year
Trans fennica Iberia S.L (Sp a in ) , Ro-Ro Past France initially offered three one; but the economic crisis came along.
Trans fennica Belgium BVBA ( Be lg iu m) , sailings a week (rising to five in Septem- Volumes are rising again and we are con-
O y Tr ans fennica AB (Fin la n d ) ber 2009) in each direction between Bil- fident for the future. We trust the EU sub-
Volume of goods shifte d of f t h e r o a d: bao in northern Spain and the Belgian sidy will partly compensate us for what
8. 4 bi llion tonne-kilom e tre s port of Zeebrugge. Each vessel carries up we have invested in this service,” says
( 4.3 -y ear estimate) to 200 unaccompanied road trailers. Van Zijl.
Es timated environmenta l b e n e f i t:
€2 1 1 m (ov er 4.3 years) At the Spanish end, “European Union support is important for us
trucks deliver trailers to
Contact :
Bilbao destined for the
and sends a powerful signal to the market
ka rel.v anz ijl@transfen n ic a.c o m
Benelux, north Germany, that our project has a European dimension”
the United Kingdom and
Sweden. Trailers for K A R E L V A N Z I J L ,
SPLIETHOFF’S BEVRACHTINGSKANTOOR,
the UK and Sweden are
AMSTERDAM
transhipped to another
ferry at Zeebrugge.
Other trailers continue by road to their
final destination. Southbound freight does
the same in reverse.

“We encountered a number of prob-

lems at the outset”, says Van Zijl. “First,
we had to convince customers we were
serious. Other operators had promised
similar services but never delivered on

22
PAGE
 GULF
Hämeenlinna
Travastehus
NORGE Falun Gävle
Turku
Åbo Helsinki
Oslo Maarianhamina Helsingfors
Uppsala Mariehamn
Västerås Tallinn
Karlstad
Örebro Stockholm

S E A
Nyköping E E S T I
Linköping
AK
E RR
SKAG Göteborg Jönköping
Visby

C
dinburgh Ventspils
N O R T H

T I
Växjö Rīga
L AT V I JA
Halmstd Kalmar
S E A

A L
DANMARK Karlskrona
Šiauliai
Telšiai
Panevėžys

B
København Klaipėda
Malmö Utena
L I E T U VA
Tauragė
Kaunas
R OS S I JS K A Vilnius
Marijampolė
ITED F E D E R AC I J
Kiel Alytus
Rostock Gdańsk
GDOM
Hamburg Schwerin Olsztyn
Bremen

Modal shift
Szczecin Białystok
Amsterdam Bydgoszcz
London
NEDERLAND Hannover
Potsdam
Berlin
Poznań
Magdeburg warszawa
POL S K A
Calais B ELGIË Zielona Góra
NNEL Bruxelles DEUTSCH LAND Łódż
Lille Brussel Düsseldorf
Lublin
B ELGIQUE Erfurt
Namur Dresden Wrocław
Amiens Kielce
Rouen Opole
n Wiesbaden Frankfurt a. M.
LUXEM B OURG Mainz Katowice
Worms Praha Kraków Rzeszów
Paris Châlons-en-Champagne
Metz Saarbrücken Č ESK Á RE PU BL I K A

Orléans Stuttgart
Strasbourg
S LOV E N S K Á
R E PU BL I K A
München Linz Sankt Pölten Wien
Bratislava
Dijon
Salzburg Eisenstadt
F R A N C E Bessançon Bregenz
Worgl ÖST ERRE I C H
Bern Innsbruck Budapest

oges SUISSE Graz MAG YAR OR S Z ÁG

Klagenfurt
Clermont-Ferrand Lyon
Aosta-Aoste Trento SLOVEN I JA R OMÂN
Ljubjana
Milano Trieste Zagreb
Torino Casale Padova Venezia HR VATS K A

Toulouse Genova BOS N A I Beograd

Bologna
Montpellier
S R BI JA

GREEN CUSTOMERS
Monaco
HE R C E G OV I N A
Marseille Firenze
Sarajevo

A
ORRA GULF Ancona

D
OF LIONS Perugia

R
A

I
ITALIA Sofija BÂLG
CO RS E T

WANT MODAL SHIFT

Barcelona L’Aquilla
Ajaccio I
Roma C Skopje

Campobasso
S
E
A Tiranë

Euro Reefer Rail Net

new route
old route

A new rail freight network and innovative
multimodal refrigerated containers are at
the heart of this ambitious project. Its aim
is to switch freight from 11 long-distance
road routes onto rail. These truck routes
cross Europe from Finland in the North to
Italy in the south and from Poland in the
east to the UK in the west. They are being
replaced by a network of nine dedicated
rail freight services with fixed routes and
schedules.
According to the lead “The project helps us to realise
company, Dutch trans-
our strategy to force a change of mindset
port group HZ Hold-
ing, pressure for this in the existing road transport market”
modal shift from road
to rail is coming from E D W I N S C H O U T E N ,
DIRECTOR; HZ LOGISTICS
environmentally aware
manufacturers and cus-
tomers rather than from governments or
freight forwarders. “The project helps us
to realise our strategy to force a change
of mindset in the existing road transport
market”, says HZ logistics director Edwin
Schouten.
“These are early days. The service is
stable and developing, but the econom- P r o j e c t n a m e:
ic recession has meant lower freight Euro Reefer Rail Net
volumes and decreasing prices in the S i ze o f M a r c o P o l o gr ant:
freight transport market”, says Schouten. €2 128 948
“We have carried out our modal shift
D u r a t i o n o f p r o j e c t gr ant:
carefully and successfully and are
J a n u a r y 2009 t o D e c em ber 2011
making all efforts to achieve the principal
Le a d p a r t n e r:
targets.”
H Z H o l d i n g B . V. M a a sdi j k
( T h e N e t h e r l a n d s)
O t h e r p a r t n e r:
D a n o n e N . V. ( B e l g i um )
Vo l u m e o f g o o d s sh i f t ed off the r oad:
1. 09 b i l l i o n t o n n e - kil om etr es
( t h r e e - ye a r e st i m a t e )
E st i m a t e d e n vi r o n m ent al benefit :
€15. 2m ( o ve r t h r e e year s)
C o n t a c t:
h z@ h zt r a n sp o r t . c o m

In addition to launching and operating the

new rail network, the Euro Reefer Rail Net
will also demonstrate and utilise innova-
tive 45-foot reefer containers to transport
products that need to be kept cool during
transport. Most of the new rail routes are
more than 1 000 kilometres long, serving
freight terminals in seven countries: Bel-
gium, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland,
Finland and Austria.

23
PAGE
 Berlin
Potsdam
Po
Magdeburg
Ziel
D EU TSC HLA ND

Catalyst action
Dresden W

Praha
Č ESK Á R EPU B L I K A U P R I V E R B Y B O AT A N D T R U C K
ETS Elbe

new route
old route

This project sets out its green credentials downstream rail and waterway services.
Project name : ETS Elb e up front. ETS stands for Ecological Trans- Stefan Kunze of Sächsische Binnen-
port Service. The aim is to expand the häfen Oberelbe says that even during the
Si ze of Marco P olo gra n t:
€1 6 3 5 3 3 0
potential for freight transport on the River extreme low water levels of 2008 “cargo
Elbe between Germany and the Czech tonnages remained unaffected, thanks
D uration of project gr a n t:
Republic by introducing scheduled to the intensive efforts we made to
A pri l 2 0 0 7 to March 2011
services using an integrated transport ensure customers’ interests were our top
Le ad partner : Sächsisc h e Bin n e n h ä f e n container system. priority”.
O bere lbe GmbH, Dresd e n
O t her partner s: The biggest obstacle to “The big extra bonus for us from the project
I ndus triehafen R oß lau Gmb H, expanding freight traf-
has been the knock-on effect of our marketing
M agd eburger Hafen Gmb H, ( Ge r ma n y ) , fic on the Elbe has been
CSP L a.s ., Česko-S aske Př is t a v y s .r.o . periods of extremely low for ETS Elbe. New customers have now started
( Czec h R epublic), Odr a Rh ein L lo y d water, when the size to use the service, bringing new business,
G m bH (G ermany) and draught of usable especially for our port installations”
Volum e of goods shifte d o ff t h e r o a d: vessels were limited.
44 0 m tonne-kilometres This also made it hard S T E F A N K U N Z E ,
( f our-y ear estimate) to introduce scheduled S Ä C H S I S C H E B I N N E N H Ä F E N O B E R E L B E
Es timated environmenta l be n e f i t: services. The result
€1 0 .5 m (ov er four years) was that many shippers migrated to road “One unexpected problem we ran into
Contact : transport for the whole inland journey was the different technical specifications
st efan_k unz e@binnen h a fe n- s a c h s e n .d e from the German seaports of Hamburg or of the vessels and barges we use,” says
Bremerhaven. Kunze. “These are from Germany, the
Czech Republic and Poland. And despite
The ETS Elbe project overcomes the European norms, they had to be modified
problem by providing a scheduled inland to make them compatible with each other
waterway service connecting the deep- and with the equipment and installations
water system of the Mittellandkanal and in each country.”
the shallow-draught River Elbe system.
The project uses inland waterways for “The big extra bonus for us from the
the whole journey when possible, with lo- project has been the knock-on effect of
cal replacement road services when part our marketing for ETS Elbe. New custom-
of the river is not navigable. The use of ers have now started to use the service,
containers allows a mix of modes. bringing new business, especially for our
port installations,” Kunze says.
The hub for the ETS Elbe project is the
river port of Magdeburg. It complements

24
PAGE
 EA-78-09-868-EN-C
LIGHTENING THE LOAD
MARCO POLO LEADS THE WAY

Freight transport clogs Europe’s roads. Yet its railways, sea routes and inland waterways are under-
used. Marco Polo is an EU programme designed to promote these environment-friendly modes of
transport and to shift freight from congested roads. In this brochure, a number of companies describe
how, with Marco Polo support, they launched rail, short-sea shipping and inland waterway projects
as greener alternatives for handling freight. Their message is clear. To succeed, their projects had to
make economic as well as ecological sense. Many road transport users hesitate to change modes
without clear economic benefit. Contributors all say projects would have been scaled back or not
launched at all without Marco Polo funding during the critical start-up phase. This helped make the
economic case to customers for a switch to rail, short-sea shipping routes or inland waterways. But
this brochure also shows how Marco Polo support added credibility to projects – a valuable market-
ing tool – and enhanced the green credentials of project participants, another significant benefit.

http://ec.europa.eu/marcopolo

executive agency

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

for competitiveness & innovation