European transport corridors are not reported on the motorway or railways, yet they are essential for the movement of goods.
They represent a privileged geographical area where the regions are perfectly interconnected by multimodal links.
The consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield has just published a study on the future of the main European trade routes in the next twenty years.
The “blue banana” the main axis of circulation in Europe
The main axis of movement of goods in Europe is called “big blue banana”, it connects the Benelux countries and the northern region of Italy, via the Rhineland.
According to Cushman & Wakefield, this original corridor has indeed transformed into several other roads.
This trend is accentuated by the increase in freight volumes, the cost of transport and the congestion of road networks. Other drivers of these changes also include e-commerce, new technologies (IoT – Internet of Things), multimodal connectivity, transport networks and even the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
The eight future distribution corridors
The document identifies eight main logistics corridors in Europe.
These new corridors are categorized according to when they are expected to become fully operational:
- The blue banana, which carries international goods through the ports of the Benelux, through the Rhineland to the northern region of Italy and should expand to Genoa.
- The British corridor will be more oriented towards their national territory (after the Brexit).
- The Irish Corridor, a new short sea route is established between the ports of Cork and Dublin in Ireland and the ports of Zeebrugge and Antwerp in Belgium;
- The Iberian corridor with pools of skilled and low-cost labor existing in Spain and Portugal. Over the next five to seven years, the creation of rail lines and other transportation links should support the growth of distribution traffic.
- The Central European corridor with the TEN-T motorway and rail developments.
- The North Sea corridor connecting the port of Hamburg to Copenhagen and Malmö (with the future Rodby-Puttgarden tunnel).
- The Black Sea corridor, which should be linked to the Central European “banana” once the branch of the TEN-T Rhine-Danube rail and motorway network from Budapest to the Black Sea is completed.
- The Baltic Corridor, which is expected to develop over the long term with TEN-T motorway and rail networks linking this region to Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.
CERL, The best route for your goods!
CERL is actively following these future developments and we believe that they will benefit our customers! Logistics innovation is part of our DNA and we strive to best support our customers with offers that meet the essential criteria of good routing: delay, security, cost, risk and environment
