Priority granted to the North - South direction and the Port of Gdansk

02.07.2003

According to the news by Jedrzej Bielecki from Brussels, released in "Rzeczpospolita" daily on July 1 this year - on June 30 this year, a report made to order of the European Commission was published. The report is likely to determine railway and road investment projects in the current and the future European Union by the year 2020. Of 100 projects of investments put forward by 27 States, under rigid and rigorous budgetary conditions, the high-level group chaired by the former Commissioner for Market Coherency Karel Van Miert recommended 18 priority projects.

From the point of view of those who developed the report, major significance is attached to the routes connecting a number of EU countries at the same time. The Gdansk - Lodz - Katowice - Brno/Zilina - Wien motorway, as well as a high speed railway line Gdansk - Warsaw - Brno/Zilina successfully fulfil that condition, as they run across the territories of 4 Member States: Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria, which contributed to those measures being included in the priority investment package. The entire motorway is due to completion as soon as the year 2010. Its route is planned to commence with a newly developed terminal in Gdansk designed not only for freight clearance, but also for passenger clearance. It is estimated that the annual rate of passengers leaving Gdansk by sea will amount to 1.5 million. The authors of the report envisage a rapid return on the investment expenditure.

Among the projects selected for development in a longer-term time horizon, there is also a freight-dedicated railway line Gdansk - Bydgoszcz - Katowice - Zwardon.

- The report made to order of the European Commission by the experts chaired by Karel Van Miert provides further evidence to confirm that the development plans adopted by the Port of Gdansk are proper and adequate - says Andrzej Kasprzak, President of the Port of Gdansk Authority SA Since November last year, we have actively participated in developing the Priority Project called "Multimodal Link North - South, section Gdansk - Polish border with the Czech Republic and Slovakia" as part of Trans-European Corridor No. VI connecting the Port of Helsinki via Port of Gdansk with the Port of Koper (Slovenia). The Van Miert Group's report that identifies 18 priority projects attributes a significant role to the Port of Gdansk as a land and sea multimodal transportation centre, this role coinciding exactly with the one we designed in the framework of the Priority Project. The investment projects planned by the Port of Gdansk aim, to a large extend, at the improvement of the road accessibility to the port and at the development of port infrastructure that will enable increased rates in ro-ro handling, as well as intensified ferry services and container freight. Let me remind you that the scope of the project covers the construction of container and ferry terminals, development of a 23-kilometre long road link with the A-1 Motorway and also the provision of a new railway bridge over the Dead Vistula river. The terminals will be accompanied by setting-up a logistics centre.

It is worthwhile mentioning that in order to facilitate these projects an agreement was signed in February this year between the Port of Gdansk Authority SA and the British investor DCT Gdansk SA., under which the investor will provide at its own expense (ca. USD 175 million) a container terminal including one ro-ro berth.

The Van Miert Group's report additionally indicates "motorways of the sea" as a natural extension to land motorways. On June 16 this year, the Port of Helsinki (beginning of Corridor No. VI) and the Port Of Gdansk Authority SA signed a letter of intent with regard to establishing such motorway. It is clearly seen, therefore, that the Port of Gdansk Authority SA is making efforts to correlate its strategy, as well as the on-going activities with the most recent trends in the transportation policy of the European Union. Such attitude opens up promising expansion prospects for the Port of Gdansk.