The North Sea – Mediterranean rail freight corridor (RFC) and the Rhine – Alpine corridors have merged. They now make up the North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean corridor (NSRM). A CEO meeting approved its strategy on 19 November in Warsaw.
The leaders of all involved infrastructure managers and allocation bodies came together in the Polish capital city. The aim was to define a plan on the further development of the NSRM. High-quality rail freight paths, marketed through a One-Stop-Shop, are one goal. The strategy also foresees an improvement in border crossing times, punctuality and coordination for infrastructure works.
“The Corridor is committed to fulfilling the requirements of the revised TEN-T Regulation, ensuring a dwell time of less than 25 minutes and a 75% arrival punctuality by 2030”, the NSRM announcement reads. The CEOs also emphasised the need for RFC-like cooperation after 2030 and requested the development of a design for such future cooperation.
Organisational structure
The RFC NSRM is managed by a joint office. Its Management Board represents the infrastructure managers and allocation bodies. The Executive Board consists of representatives from the involved transport ministries. Lastly, railway undertakings and terminals and ports are represented in advisory groups.
The NSRM spans more than 12,150 kilometres of rail infrastructure and accounts for over a quarter of all European RFC routes. It has 22 border crossings and involves 11 infrastructure managers and allocation bodies. Over 120,000 international freights travel on the corridor annually, according to RFC NSRM, which makes it the “most frequented route in Europe”.