THE NORTI-IWESTERN EUROPEAN LAND BRIDGE
Ragne Wiberg
International transport consultant, Stockholm, Sweden
1. INTRODUCTION
Traffic is expected to grow considerably in the next decades between western and eastern Europe.
In order to cope with this development major infrastucture links like motorways and highspeed rail
lines ~ be built in central and southeastern Europe. The northwestern part of Russia, Finland and
the Baltic states must, however, also be served by similar first class in~astructure as these areas
will have growing needs of quick and reliable connections to central and western Europe. As there
is a risk that the infrastructure in central Europe might become overburdend if the transport needs
o f Russia should all haveto be covered by central European infi'astructural links, it is recommended
that present infxastruemre in northwestern Europe should be upgraded - rebuilt and newbuilt - in
order to serve the furore transport needs o f northwestern Russia, Finland, Scandinavia and the
Baltic States. What could be called a Northwestern European Land Bridge stretching from the
Benelux countries, northern France and southern England up to these areas around the Baltic Sea
could be imagined. The sea connections between the ports around the Baltic Sea as well as direct
shipping lines from northwestern Europe to Russia, Finland and the Baltic states form an essential
part o f the northwestern European transport system. It should also be borne in mind that the
airports in the area are very important for the development of its future relations to other parts of
Europe and overseas. Certain major ird~astueural bottlenecks are identified. It is argued that
investments in the infrastructure along this "bridge" ~ serve as a basis for expanded industrial
activities thereby stimulating economic development in the area. It is strongly recommended that a
true intermodal approach is applied when deciding on investments in the region.
2. PRESENT TRADE AND TRANSPORT PATTERN
The Maastricht II negotiations came to an end in June 1997. When the new Treaty MI1 enter into
force the negotiations for accession by at least some of the former Eastern European countries to
the European Union will start. These countries are to-day preparing themselves for that task. This
is known as the law-approximation process. A very important part o f this legislative work is to
bring the necessary laws regarding infrastructure in these countries in line with the respective
Community legislation and not the least the guidelines adopted for the creation of the transport
parts o f the Trans European Networks. The TEN system has got a corresponding infi'astructural
system in central and eastern Europe through the identification of the so called Crete corridors, i e
the major infrastructural links identified at the second Pan European Transport Conference in Crete
in 1994. At the third Pan European Transport Conference in Helsinki in June 1997 the great
importance of these corridors were once again underlined in the Final Declaration from the
Conference. All together the TENs and the Crete corridors form the future basis for a coherent
transport system in Europe.
The trade pattern in central Europe as well as between eastern and western Europe has changed
considerably during the beginning of the 90s. The trade between Russia, Belorus and Ukraine with
the central European states like Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary has decreased. Their
trade with Germany, Benelux, France and Scandinavia has, however, increased. This trend is likely
to continue and will certainly be even stronger once these states become members o f the European
Union.
These changes have also meant that road transport has increased manifold whereas the role o f rail
and inland waterways have d'mimished. As customs and border controls as well as the road
infrastructure was not equipped to meet the quickly raising heavy goods traffic many difficulties
have arisen like bottleneck problems and que'mg at the borders. The European Union and the
governments of the countries mostly concerned have therefore tried to remedy the situation by
various shorttime measures. This is, however, not sufficient in the long run. There is a great need
for new irtffasttucture to serve the development of these new flows of trade. Plans have therefore
been presented for new motorways between e g Berlin and Moscow via Warsaw and i~msk as well
as between Berlin and Kiew via Krakow. A motorway called Via Baltica is also plarmed from
Talliun through Latvia and Lithuania to Warsaw. As it is seen as a major goal of transport policy
to-day in the European Union to try to increase the share of rail plans have also been presented to
build high-speed rail links between the abovementioned cities. Sea transports should also be
increased. Therefore ports and other facilities should be developed especially in the Baltic Sea
basin. The use ofirdand waterways could also be increased in central Europe and Russia.
The list of new projects for transport infrastructure in central Europe is quite impressive. It will,
however, even if considerable time and money is devoted to their realisation, take a long time
before they are ready and open for trzfl~ic. It is therefore advisable to calculate with dit~culties for
transports still for many years to come because of lack of suitable roads, ports and sufficient rail
capacity. This means that e g big cities like St Petersburg and even Moscow and their surrounding
regions might have difficulties for the carrying out of their trade with western Europe. It would
therefore be natural to look if there are any other possibilities for serving their needs for quick and
reliable transports in addition to the major infrastrucural links through central Europe. One such
possible link could be developed by using the Black Sea to a larger extent than to-day. From the
northern shores of that sea it could continue by road, rail and waterways northwards through the
Ukraine to the Moscow region. Another link serving especially the needs o f St Petersburg but also
tTinland, the Baltic states and northwestern Russia stretches through Germany, Denmark, Sweden
as well as the Baltic Sea from the Benelux-northern France-southern England area. In this paper
that link is called the North Western European Land Bridge.
3. THE IqORTHWES'ITERN EUROPEAN LAND BRIDGE
Looking more in depth at the present infrastructural set-up along this northwestern European land
bridge it will be found that to a large extent there is already a basic network of good roads,
railways, ports and airports. The main purpose o f the existing irtffastrueture is, however, for
evident reasons to serve present transport needs of the individual countries along the "bridge". This
is normal for almost all the countries in the European Union as well as the countries in central and
eastern Europe. The Maastrieht I Treaty brought, however, with it a fundamentally new concept,
namely the idea of a pan-european transport network, i e the so called TENs. All the countries in
the Union, including its central and its peripheral regions, should be connected with each other by a
system of firstclass motorways, railways, ports and airports, thereby bringing the people and the
enterprises of the whole Community closer to each other. The Christophersen Group identified
about a dozen transport projects which ought to be given the highest priority when investing in the
TEN-system. Two of these concern Northern Europe. The realisation of these two projects, i e the
0resund bridge and the so called Northem Triangle - the road and rail links between Copenhagen,
Oslo and Stockholm and with its ferry and road extension to Helsinki, are of fundamental
importance for the creation of the Northwestern European Land Bridge.
At present the first concrete elements for the construction of the 13resund bridge between
Copenhagen and Malrn~5 are being built and the first ones o f them will soon be placed on the
bottom of the strait ofl3resund. The bridge will be ready in 1999 if'no delays will occur. As far as
the Nordic Triangle is concerned it should be noted that large parts o f the triangle of course already
exist but also that there are several important "missing links" along its main lines. Work is at
present going on in Sweden, Norway and Finland in order to improve the situation. Thus the
present high-speed rail network is extended in Sweden to cover the whole distance between
Stockholm and Malmr, i e 600 lans, as well as a large portion of the line between Stockholm and
Oslo. Motorway improvements are underway along the Swedish west coast, i e the E 6 road, and in
southern Finland the road and rail connections between the city of Turku in soutwestern Finland,
with an important ferry port for the traffic to Sweden, and Helsinki are also upgraded.
In southeastern Sweden, i e along the coastline from Trelieborg to Norrkrping, there are several
good harbours well suited for e g ferry transports across the Baltic Sea to the ports of Estohia,
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. These ports are connected by a rather good road - E 22 - and
between the E 6 and this road there are several road links. One of these eormect the city of
G~teborg on the Swedish west coast with the cities of Kalmar and Karlskrona on the souteastern
coast crossing the E 6 ciose to the city of V/Lxir. There is also a parallell rail connection to this
road. These two links are already to-day important but could become even more important as the
harbour o f GOteborg is now developing as the most important port ofcaU in Scandinavia for oceangoing sea tral~c and especially for the container mega carders Evergreen, Maersk and SeaLand.
This means that containers could be brought over the Swedish main land to the ports on the
southeastern coast and then by feeders to the ports on the other side oft:he Baltic Sea.
It should also be remembered that southeastern Norway with its focal point Oslo is a quickly
developing region. It can be expected that Norway will increase its trade with Russia and the Baltic
states and certainly also with Finland. It is therefore important that the rail and road connections
crossing Sweden to southeastern and eastern Sweden equally have a good standard permitting
quick and reliable transports.
On the Baltic side o f the Baltic Sea there are several harbours and also railways and roads into the
hinterland, i e Belorus and Russia. There is, however, a great need for upgrading of this
infrastructure. This has also been recognised by the European Investment Bank which have given
several important loans for this purpose. The same is true for the World Bank and for the European
Union programmes like Phare and Tacis which are devoted to help the eastern economies to
become modern market economies. The modemisation of the transport infrastructure in the Baltic
states, in Belorus and in western Russia is extremely important for the development of these
countries.
The land bridge over Scandinavia can only function if there is a corresponding infrastructure on the
eastern side of the Baltic Sea. It is a therefore necessary that the planning authorities on both sides
come together and apply a truly intermodal approach to their work taking into consideration that
their respective regions and countries form just parts of a total land bridge system stretching from
the Benelux area to northwestern Russia. Sea transports and especially ferry, coastal and feeder
transports, could be a most valuable complement or alternative to road and rail links around the
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Baltic Sea. This is an important dimension which should also be borne in mind when planning for
the future transport needs in the area.
Most of what has been said above concerns the transport of goods. However, it can be expected
that there will be a growing need also for traffic by private ears and tourist or business trzffic by
bus, rail and/or air. Roads, railways and ports should be constructed also for these purposes. A
growing trade between Scandinavia, the Baltic states and Russia will also require good and reliable
air connections. There are already several airports around the Baltic Sea as well in Scandinavia as
in the Baltic states. Some of them are of great international importance like the airports of
Stockholm and Copenhagen but there are many others which could be developed for taking care of
more regional needs like air transports between the capitals of the Baltic states and cities of
southern and eastern Sweden like Malmr, ~I6nkrping, V~xi6 and/or Kalmar. The international
airports will most likely in the future have to be reserved mainly for long distance traffic from other
continents as the congestion in the air over the continent seems likely to increase year by year. This
means that present and even more future short-distance internal European air traffic will have to be
carried out by high speed rail transports instead of by aircraft.
What has been said above mostly concerns Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region. Attention must,
however also be given to the southern parts of the "land bridge", i e the present infrastructure in
Denmark and Germany. In a short time the bridge across Denmark to the peninsula of Jutland will
be opened for traffic. This means that road and rail transports can be performed between mainland
Europe and eastern Denmark without using ferry crossings. Compared to the straight line between
Copenhagen and Hamburg transports over the new bridge will, however, be 170 kms longer than
by using the ferry boats between Krdby in Denmark and Puttgarden in Germany. Therefore it is
higly desirable that a fixed connection should be built across that strait - the Fehmarn Belt. Such a
bridge and/or tunnel would improve the possibilities for high speed rail transports - passengers and
goods alike - between Norway and Sweden to the European mainland. Of course also road
transports would benefit from such a connection. Especially during vacation periods long waiting
times appear at the present ferry ports.
Another important part of the northwestern land bridge is the area around Hamburg. The city itself
and its surrounding region generate a great amount of traffic as well of goods as people. The
harbour of Hamburg is one o f the busiest in Northern Europe. It also serves Scandinavia via feeder
transports by boat but also via rail and road. Also for rail and road transports Hamburg is a crucial
point which often develops into a real bottleneck. It is therefore of the utmost importance that
when planning for Hamburg's future needs of transport consideration is also given to the transport
needs along the northwestern land bridge to Finland/Russia. Joint planning with all the parties
concerned is therfore highly recommended.
Still another "missing link" - or at least weak link - can be identified between the region of
Hamburg to the Benelux countries, namely especially as far as rail transports are concerned. I.frail
should ever become a viable alternative to road transports between Benelux, northern France and
southern England up to northern Europe mad northwestern Russia it is necessary that the highspeed
rail networks in France and central Germany should be extended to northern Germany and
Denmark and then connected to the Swedish higbspeed rail system. If that is not done a great part
of the benefits of the fixed rail links over the straits of Stora B~lt in Denmark as well as over the
0resund and the future link across the Fehmarn Belt ~11 be lost. These links are very costly. It is
therefore extremely important that full use is being made of the investments made. This will only be
possible if the rail infrastructure in northwestern Germany is upgraded into a firstclass highspeed
rail network.
What has been said above regarding the need for highspeed rail in northwestern Germany does of
course not preclude that new and/or modemised road transport infrastructure must also exist in this
area. There is to-day an impressive system ofmotorways in this area but still congestions and other
difficulties often appear along these roads. It is therefore highly desirable that the road
infrastructure is continuously improved and that the needs of future road traffic to Scandinavia and
Russia are taken into due consideration.
4. THE TR_A_NSPORT SOFTWARE
The infrastruetural concept of a Northwestern European Land Bridge Hill only function properly if
the building and later maintaining of it is accompanied by proper "software". There are two kinds
of such transport software, namely a regulatory system giving equal economic rights and
opportunities to all persons and undertakings alike along the "bridge"
and a system o f the most modern telematics for transport purposes to aid the users o f the
infrastructure to perform their transports in a safe, environment-friendly and efficient way.
The regulatory system for the countries along the "bridge" and who are members of the European
Union will of course be all the regulations, directives ere adopted for transport purposes by the
Union's legislative bodies supplemented with relevant national transport legislation. This is a
continueing process carried out by the European Commission and the member governments. It can
be taken for granted that the relevant legislation applicable to the land bridge ~ be kept up to
date and that necessary initiatives for its further development ~ be taken by the European
Commission. One such measure but very important for the harmonisation of taxes and fees on
heavy road vehicles is the Eurovignette system. Sweden Hill soon become the sixth member of the
group of EU-countries applying that system. What is especially important is, however, that the
countries on the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, some of which have applied for membership in the
Union, WIUalso align themselves with the present and coming ELI transport legislation. This work
is underway with the help of the ELI Commission and EU governments. Important achievements
have already been made. But it is necessary that the law approximation work is continued and
deepened in order to avoid any possible distortions of competition between transport undertakings
from the European Union countries and the eastern ones.
The use of electronics for transport purposes is now being developed. Several governments in
northwestern Europe are now dedicating considerable work in order to bring about a workable
system for road informatics. It is expected that the first users in a large scale will be commercial
road transport enterprises like forwarders and hauliers. At the recent third Pan European Transport
Conference the promotion of transport telematics was especially underlined and the Final
Declaration expressly recommends that governments actively engage themselves in the process o f
introduction oftelematics in transport.
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
The considerations brought forward above lead to the conclusion that governments along the
NQrthwestern European Land Bridge should engage actively in the creation of such a bridge
stretching from the Benelux-northern France-southern England area through Germany to
Scandinavia and Finland to Russia and the Baltic states. It is recommended that a joint planning
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group from the countries concerned and the European Commission and including representatives
from all modes of transport should be set up. Their task would be to apply a truly intermodal
approach to the planning of the future transport system along the Bridge and around the Baltic Sea.
This transport system shall consist of a basic set of first class road and rail links as well as ports and
airports. Its foundations shall be the TEN network and the E road system but supplemented by
strategic investments in other transport inil-strncture which is found to be of importance for the
development of industry and trade along the Bridge. This is especially the case in southeastern
Sweden. It is also important to keep a proper system of necessary software for the well functioning
o f the infrastructure along the Bridge.