In the short term, says North Sea Port, the partners intend to focus on using the existing rail infrastructure as efficiently as possible. “The use of sensor data provides a better and up-to-date insight into track occupancy and usage.”

“In addition, we are jointly exploring new concepts to further stimulate cooperation and opportunities for consolidation between shippers and carriers, even in a challenging market environment.” Improving the safety at level crossings will be another priority in the coming period, North Sea Port adds.

740-metre trains

In the long term, North Sea Port and ProRail will work on “structural solutions to infrastructure issues”. These include a cross-border Ghent–Terneuzen rail project and an expansion of storage and shunting tracks in the Sloehaven in Vlissingen.

North Sea Port aims for a modal shift to rail. By 2030, it wants rail freight to take a 15% modal share, up from the current 10%. Some steps have been taken towards that end: The rail network in the Terneuzen area is now capable of handling freight trains of up to 740 metres in length. In particular, the Sas van Gent, the Terneuzen-Zuid and Axel Aansluiting marshalling yards have tracks available for 740-metre long trains.

Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition, representing Belgium) and outgoing State Secretary Thierry Aartsen (Infrastructure and Water Management, representing the Netherlands) signed a joint declaration on this matter in Antwerp.

New challenges in a rapidly changing world demand swift action, according to the signatories Crucke and Aartsen. The joint statement states that geopolitical and geoeconomic relations are changing rapidly and that this calls for increased cooperation in areas such as accessibility, security, and military mobility.

‘New impetus and acceleration’

Belgium and the Netherlands are already collaborating to strengthen cross-border connections. The challenge now is to further develop the potential of the collaboration between the two countries and remove all possible obstacles. “Our collaboration with the Netherlands has always been constructive,” says Belgian Minister Jean-Luc Crucke, “but at times it lacked ambition. Today, we want to breathe new life into it, so that we can strengthen our ties and accelerate the development of safe and efficient cross-border rail connections.”

State Secretary Thierry Aartsen agrees: “The world is changing rapidly. Good cross-border cooperation is therefore strategically important – both economically and militarily. And as a traveler, you must be able to travel to another country easily. We are now giving new impetus and acceleration to the cooperation between Belgium and the Netherlands in the field of rail. This declaration is a fantastic first step in that direction. It contributes to the new cabinet’s commitment to continue working on improving the accessibility and safety of our country in an international context.”

Ghent-Terneuzen connection

Both parties also indicate that they do not intend to limit themselves to a mere declaration of intent. They will not only focus on improving connectivity, but Belgium and the Netherlands also want to expand the capacity of cross-border lines. Furthermore, new connections such as 3RX and the rail freight connection between the ports of Ghent and Terneuzen should be considered. Furthermore, new connections between the Dutch provinces of Brabant and Limburg and Belgium are being explored. It has been decided to explore, among other things, a connection between Brainport Eindhoven and Belgium. Both countries also want to further coordinate efforts on increased capacity for cross-border military mobility and improved rail resilience.

To ensure the successful completion of these projects, both countries have agreed that the responsible ministers will meet at least once a year. This will be supplemented by biannual meetings of the Belgian-Dutch working group, as well as meetings between experts on each rail dossier. The intention is for Belgium and the Netherlands to sign a framework agreement covering a series of rail dossiers this summer.

According to the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the agreements build on existing collaboration and on rail agreements between Belgium and the Netherlands from 2022. However, the intensification requires additional efforts and, where necessary, substantive deepening. Therefore, it has been agreed to involve regional parties and rail infrastructure managers in the approach, where necessary and relevant.

Iron Rhine and 3RX

And so, the Belgians have finally put the 3RX connection back on the Dutch political agenda . The benefits of this renewed connection primarily benefit the Port of Antwerp. The 3RX route – the Rhein-Ruhr-Rail connection – is an alternative to the Iron Rhine rail link, proposed since 2017, intended to connect the Port of Antwerp with the German Ruhr region. The route largely follows existing railway lines, unlike the original, more controversial route. Reactivating the existing Iron Rhine route is out of the question for the Netherlands because part of it runs right through the De Meinweg national park.

For that reason, the Belgians are pursuing a detour via Venlo (Netherlands, on the border with Germany): the 3RX route. Between 2016 and 2017, Transport & Mobility Leuven, part of the Catholic University of Leuven, conducted research into the reactivation of the Iron Rhine and what it would require. The lion’s share of the work – and therefore the costs – would be borne by the Netherlands.

The report concluded: “The cheapest solution for creating a line is a combination of doubling and electrifying various sections (in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany), constructing a new railway curve near Roermond (Netherlands), and various works near Venlo to divert the train. The total investment cost of this option is estimated at 770 million euros (including risk provision, excluding VAT; uncertainty margin: around 30%).”

The study’s traffic analysis already showed that the 3RX line will primarily be used for traffic between the Belgian seaports and the Rhine-Ruhr region. “It is assumed that the line will be used by an average of 17 to 20 trains daily in 2030, and by 19 to 23 trains in 2040. The traffic forecast shows that the 3RX would also relieve congestion on the Brabant Route, the Aachen marshalling yard, and the Aachen-Düren-Cologne line.”

Aside from relieving the burden on the Brabant Route, reactivating the Iron Rhine doesn’t seem to offer much benefit to the Netherlands. Will the two countries finally break the deadlock? Time will tell. Meanwhile, sister publication SpoorPro has submitted questions to State Secretary Thierry Aartsen about the silent, yet expressed, desire of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever to merge the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, or at least to steer towards a more extensive form of cooperation.

This article was originally published by our sister publication SpoorPro.

The depot is provided by Vlaeynatie, which operates the 30,000m² container terminal 3MCT in Terneuzen. At 3MCT, every day barges load and unload containers from or to all major container terminals in Antwerp and Rotterdam. Trains connect the terminal with Antwerp as the central hub in MSC’s European network, and Zeebrugge. RailFreight Live went there to see where all this interest was coming from.

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More services

“For our containers, we now have two regular trains departing to Antwerp Deepsea Terminal, and we have a direct link with MSC home terminals in Antwerp. We bring import containers and empty containers from this home terminal to Westdorpe”, said van den Broeck, when we visited him at his terminal.

“Starting from August, we will have three train connections between these points, and we want to further increase this frequency, as we have further possibilities, not limited to this deepsea terminal. Since the news that we are to facilitate MSC with a depot, we have had other shipping companies on the line, asking us if we are ready to come up with similar arrangements with them. We are waiting, and have the means to make rail more favourable.”

Lower prices

If you ask the CEO, more trains means more efficiency and perhaps lower prices. The company has always been an advocate of rail, and it would like to see the volumes grow, he explains. But what could help is establishing the missing link: the railway connection between the Axelse Vlakte in the Netherlands and the Belgian town Zelzate on the east bank of the Ghent-Terneuzen canal.

Currently, rail traffic runs via the west bank. If it wants to move in the other direction, it needs to make a complete loop. What is more, trains need to cross the Sluiskil bridge, which is open to allow for the passage of ships several times of the day. This forms a major bottleneck.

“Establishing this railway connection would make the railway connection much simpler”, said van den Broeck. “For us in concrete terms, this would mean that we can promote rail freight among our customers towards a better service, facilitate higher volumes, and that the price becomes more competitive with barge and other transport modes.”

Still waiting approval

End of February, Belgium, Flanders, and the Netherlands signed a letter of intent to improve the railway connection Ghent-Terneuzen. Earlier, in June 2020, the Belgian federal parliament approved this plan. The missing link is one of the possible projects. However, despite all political will its realisation is far from secure, and far from happening tomorrow.

“Three projects have been proposed in order to improve the railway connection Ghent-Terneuzen”, explained Hans de Meij, project leader at the port. “Apart from the missing link, the plan includes a new south-east curve in the track east of the Sluiskil bridge, and an extension and opening up to the north of the rail bundle at the Kluizendok ( ‘Zandeken’). We could realise all of these projects, or only one. This is something that is still unknown.”

The parties involved are currently investigating all of the possible options. “We are taking our time, it could take 4 to 5 years before we decide which element we want to build. Then, we will start the works. It is also at that point that we will apply for European funding for this project.”

Finally get a green light

In an interview with Spoorpro TV last year (in Dutch), director of the North Sea Port Jan Lagasse pointed out that the plans for a better rail connection between Ghent and Terneuzen have been on the shelves for years, but never materialised. The first plans for the rail project date back to 1968, but after that it remained silent for decades. When the director started at Sealand Seaports in 2014, he managed to get the rail project on the agenda again. “This rail project is actually a kind of Loch Ness monster that reappears every so many years”, he jokingly said.

Belgium/Flanders and the Netherlands have now committed to invest two million each to develop the Ghent-Terneuzen canal zone. They hope that EU support will not be missing from their endeavour. “We have expressed our wish for the construction of the missing link, and I think this has also been declared to the European Commission, said van den Broeck. “I hope we will finally get a green light.”

Railway line L204

In the Rail Ghent Terneuzen project, the five partners jointly investigated what exactly is needed to improve rail in the cross-border port area between Ghent and Terneuzen and to realise social and economic opportunities. The extension of the railway line L204 between Ghent and Zelzate towards the Axelse Vlakte in the Netherlands is on the programme.

The extension of line 204 to Terneuzen means a railway connection to the Axelse Vlakte – the large industrial estate under development in the Netherlands near the border. Through this connection, it is linked to the wider network including the Scheldt-Seine line from Terneuzen, Ghent to Paris.

Further development

The support of both parliaments is an important step in further developing rail in the cross-border port area for both freight and passenger transport. In this way, both countries continue to contribute to the development of North Sea Port, where 525 companies are active and as a result of which no fewer than 100,000 people have a job. North Sea Port is currently number three of European ports in terms of added value (14.5 billion euros).

The North Sea Port witnesses a sharp increase in the volume of goods transshipment. In the first half of 2018 there was an increase of 11 per cent. This cannot be processed by rail transport in the long term due to bottlenecks on the Ghent-Terneuzen railway line.

Bottlenecks

The engineering firms Movares and TML have now investigated which bottlenecks exist in the current rail network for freight transport. This shows that in the Netherlands the eastern rail freight link between Ghent and Terneuzen is missing at Axel-Zelzate. Furthermore, the Sluiskilbrug will become a bottleneck around 2028: this bridge can no longer process the number of trains.

The study also shows that there is a capacity shortage in Flanders on the route section north of the Ghent borough Wondelgem. Moreover, various railway bundles have capacity bottlenecks on both sides of the border. In the next phase of the research, the technical feasibility and costs of various solutions will be investigated. The results of this follow-up study are expected in early 2019.

Improving railway

North Sea Port, the municipality of Terneuzen, the city of Ghent and the provinces of Zeeland and East Flanders, together with the Rail Ghent Terneuzen project, are working together to improve the rail network. This is aimed at the growth of the port, the strengthening of sustainability and the economy in the border region. A first phase of the study project has now been completed.