The Rhine-Alpine and the North Sea-Mediterranean corridors are being merged to form the North Sea-Rhine-Mediterranean Corridor. The new entity recently published its implementation plan, which envisions the inclusion of new rail lines.
The implementation plan was recently published by the management board of the new corridor. The new alignment is scheduled to start on 12 January 2026, the document said. With the new outlook, the corridor will incorporate 10 ports. In France, the ports of Marseille, Calais, Dunkirk and HAROPA ports (Le Havre, Rouen, Paris). In Belgium the North Sea Port (Terneuzen, Vlissingen and Ghent) and the port of Antwerp-Bruges (Antwerp and Zeebrugge). In the Netherlands the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Moerdijk and the port of Genoa in Italy.
The newly established corridor will not only include the routes belonging to the two previous ones, but it also feature new connections. The Koblenz–Trier–Saarbrücken line, in western Germany; the stretch connecting Luxemburg to Germany via Wasserbillig; the section between Le Havre–Rouen–Paris (the three HAROPA ports) in France, and the Seregno–Novara line in northern Italy, which will act as a way to bypass the Milan node.
Fragmentation and bottlenecks
All lines of the merged corridor are already electrified, except for the Belgian section between Wondelgem and Terneuzen. When it comes to almost everything else, however, the outlook of the corridor is quite fragmented. When it comes to the implementation of ERTMS, for example, the situation might stagnate until 2040. Belgium and Switzerland lead the way, but all the other countries are lagging behind.
More specifically, the expected timetable for ERTMS deployment on the German and Italian lines of this corridor goes from 2027 to 2040. Moreover, France and the Netherlands are the least aligned countries, with no concrete plans for a great number of sections. A similar picture is painted for ETCS, one of the mechanism of ERTMS, where the majority of the infrastructure will not be equipped before 2026, with the usual exception of Belgium and Switzerland.
Finally, there are still 25 bottlenecks along the new corridor: six in the Netherlands, five in France and Germany, four in Italy, two in Belgium and Switzerland and one in Luxembourg. This situation is not expected to drastically improve before well into the 2030s as construction activity, one of the main drivers behind bottlenecks, will increase over the next few years.
Alternative routes remain an issue
Despite the comprehensive plan, there are still some points of concern when it comes to the new corridor, mostly regarding alternative routes for the transport of semi-trailers. The Railway undertaking Advisory Group (RAG), for example, said to be “astonished to find no mention of the projects to enable the transport of P400 gauge trains” along the Basel–Strasbourg–Metz section. This is a key line running on the left bank of the Rhine River, which would provide a vital alternative to the main section connecting Basel to Karlsruhe.