Strengthening Combined Transport in the Baltic Sea Region

January 2019 -
June 2021
3. Transport 3.1 Interoperability

COMBINE

In combined transport, goods are moved by train, ships or barges, with the first and last mile covered by road as short as possible. However, the share of this efficient and more environmentally friendly transport scheme remains small in the Baltic Sea region due to spatially scattered transport and a tradition of road transport. COMBINE aims to increase this share by improving the operation at terminals and reducing the costs of the last mile by introducing new solutions such as platooning, longer/heavier trucks, e-trucks, and LNG-trucks.

 

SUMMARY

 

COMBINE wants to enhance the share of combined transport in the Baltic Sea region in order to make transport more environmentally friendly.

Competitiveness is a challenge

Combining different transport modes results in additional handling efforts which cost time and money. The challenge of combining transport modes is therefore how to make it efficient and competitive. One way is to compensate handling costs by lower transport cost of the main leg and last mile of the transport chain. The longer the main leg and the shorter last mile, the more competitive combined transport is, in general. In the Baltic Sea combined transport to date can hardly compete with road transport due to rural structures, comparatively low transport volumes and a long tradition of pure road transport. Thus, the share of combined transport is low. This results in inexperience and insufficient knowledge about combined transport and thus low exploitation of the potential of combined transport. COMBINE is working to overcome these challenges.

New technologies and better organization can bring the solution

New technologies regarding main leg transport, terminal handling and last mile operation as well as modern and efficient transport organisation are opportunities for the Baltic Sea region. It is vital to use the benefits of each mode and to optimize each part of the transport chain where appropriate to inhibit pure road transport. COMBINE follows a comprehensive transport service-related approach to strengthen all parts of the transport chain: main leg, terminal handling and last mile. COMBINE contributes to a closer cooperation of policy level, stronger support for combined transport in the Baltic Sea region and finally a stronger role of combined transport in the Baltic Sea region transport system.

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Budgets

Total
€ 3.40
million
Erdf
€ 2.65
million
Eni + Russia
€ 0.00
million
Norway
€ 0.00
million

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