The Construction Index, the leading online information source for the construction & building industry, reported today that Germany’s transport ministry has set out a masterplan for increasing the amount of freight moved using the inland waterway network, making a major investment in inland waterways.
The Federal Ministry of Transport & Digital Infrastructure presented the Inland Waterway Transport Masterplan, the foundation for future-proofing inland waterway transport and making it more attractive. The plan was developed in cooperation with trade associations, the industry and other stakeholders.
“We need modern and strong inland waterway transport. . . inland waterway vessels are secret freight transport giants,” said federal minister Andreas Scheuer:
“We want to boost inland waterway transport and move as many goods as possible by waterway. Inland waterway vessels are secret freight transport giants – high-capacity, safe and efficient. Self-propelled barges with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes can replace up to 150 heavy goods vehicles. There is huge potential here, and we want to make even better use of it. For this purpose, we have now created the Inland Waterway Transport Masterplan. We will not be able to reduce carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions in Germany unless we modernise the inland waterway transport sector and shift more freight to the waterways.”
The Inland Waterway Transport Masterplan focuses on five key priorities:
• Infrastructure investment – billions of euros will ensure that there is sufficient financial, structural and manpower capacity in the waterway sector;
• Environmental friendliness and fleet structure – supporting the industry in switching to more efficient and lower-emission vessels;
• Digitalisation – creation of ‘Inland Waterway Transport 4.0’, involving connecting ports, digitalising the locks and vessels and automating the terminals;
• Boosting the multimodal transport chain – with the objective is that inland waterway transport should account for 12 percent of the freight moved in the modal split;
• Recruiting more skilled workers – supporting trade associations in attracting new workers and in their nationwide drive at recruiting fairs.
The ministry’s website describes the extent of the inland waterway network and continues:
“Up to 240 million tonnes of bulk goods are transported per year via the German Federal waterways, which amounts to around 65 billion tonne-kilometres. This equals almost 75 per cent of the goods transport by railway in this country or about 14 million lorry journeys. Moreover, some 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers are carried via inland waterways, which corresponds to another 700,000 lorry journeys. This way, inland shipping makes a significant contribution to satisfying the industry’s demand for transport services, which are delivered on schedule and in a cost-effective and environmentally compatible manner.
“The main advantages of water-borne transport for both national economies and for the environment are its unrivalled low macroeconomic costs per tonne-kilometer and the additional function of waterways as an environment for living and recreation. This is why the Federal Government pays great attention to water-borne transport in an effort to cope with the predicted traffic increase in an environment-friendly and cost-effective way”.
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Inland Waterway Freight 