Shipping - Madsen calls for Kiel port to be included in EU core network
Schleswig-Holstein's Economics Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen has called for the port of Kiel and the Bad Oldesloe-Neumünster freight rail route to be included in the trans-European transport core network. "The seaport of Kiel is located on the Kiel Canal and therefore on one of the world's most important waterways," the CDU politician told the German Press Agency. The rail route is by no means just of regional importance, but is highly relevant for the German long-distance transport network.
According to the ministry, the EU Commission had decided against both northern projects shortly before Christmas when reforming a corresponding regulation. Roads, railroad lines, rivers and canals as well as other transport infrastructure belonging to the so-called TEN-T network were to be brought up to certain standards by 2050.
Madsen said that the state government had campaigned for the port of Kiel and the rail freight route right up to the end. Although a majority of the EU Parliament had spoken out in favor of this, the initiative had failed in negotiations with the member states and the EU Commission. "Obviously, the German government did not represent our efforts in Brussels with the necessary vehemence." He invited Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) to Kiel to see the passenger and freight traffic there for himself.
It is true that the port does not reach the necessary threshold of more than one percent of the total annual EU freight volume for bulk and non-bulk goods. "But the fact that the port is to a certain extent the gateway to the TEN route "Kiel Canal" and also a hub for passenger ship traffic in the Baltic Sea region is not taken into account," said Madsen. The reasoning behind the Bad Oldesloe-Neumünster route is similarly contradictory.
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Source: www.stern.de
