Intermodal Links shows the importance of indirect rail connections for seaports
The online database Intermodal Links now also provides an overview of ‘indirect rail connections’ via more than 30 large (inland) rail hubs in Europe. At these rail hubs containers are transferred to connecting rail shuttles serving the European hinterland and port system.
An analysis of the database shows the importance of these indirect rail connections. The hinterland of seaports can effectively double in terms of the number of cities to be reached. The table below shows this effect for the three largest seaport clusters: Port of Rotterdam , Port of Antwerp-Bruges and the North German seaports Port of Hamburg - Ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven -Wilhelmshaven.
When considering the direct rail connections, the number of cities directly connected to the Port of Rotterdam is 57, for the port of Antwerp-Bruges this is 65 cities and for the German seaports 61 cities are directly connected. By including the indirect connections – with a maximum of one viable transhipment via one of the central rail hubs in Europe – this results in an additional 64 connected cities for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. For the Port of Rotterdam and seaport cluster in Hamburg-Bremerhaven-Wilhelmshaven, the additional number of cities is slightly lower, but still results in a (almost) doubling of the hinterland in terms of number of connected cities. The effect for the Belgian ports is larger, because Antwerp-Bruges has direct connections with more central rail hubs (21 of the total of 31 rail hubs) than Rotterdam and the German seaports (13 and 14 respectively).
Ecorys' Intermodal Links dashboard provides valuable insights to both Port Authorities and intermodal transport operators alike. Do contact us if you want to know on tailor made benchmarks and competitive insights!