The 2020s will be a stagnant decade for the Rhine-Alpine Rail Freight Corridor (RFC), which runs from Genoa, in Italy, to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Various bottlenecks along the corridor are expected to remain at the very least until 2030, according to the Corridor Information Document recently published by the body managing the corridor.
The report compiled by the Rhine-Alpine RFC shows the bottleneck situation for 2023 and possible estimates for 2025 and 2030. They provided data concerning the five countries crossed by the corridor: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The report provides information on rail sections as well as key nodes considered as bottlenecks.
Despite the many upgrades planned or underway along the corridor connecting Genoa to Rotterdam, congestion will remain a challenge for the whole decade. “Even if all currently planned/identified infrastructure projects are realised, there will still remain (potential) infrastructural bottlenecks on RFC Rhine-Alpine”, the RFC entity claimed. The issue becomes even more apparent when it comes to Germany, where the largest section of the RFC runs but the infrastructure needs significant upgrades.
The Netherlands
When it comes to the Netherlands, two bottlenecks were identified in 2023: the Breda-Tilburg section and the line that from Venlo reaches the German border. Moreover, the report labelled two nodes as bottlenecks, Pernis and Waalhaven Zuid. For the 2025 predictions, the bottleneck nodes are expected rise to five, with the addition of Botlek, Kijfhoek and Venlo. When it comes to full sections, the two mentioned above should be downgraded to ‘potential bottlenecks’. However, the Roosendaal-Breda line and the railway going from Zavenaar to the German border will become a bottleneck. In the scenario for 2030, things are expected to worsen for nodes, with the inclusion of Europoort and Roosendaal as bottleneck nodes. By then, the Venlo-German border and thex Roosendaal-Breda lines will be labelled as potential bottlenecks.
Belgium
When analysing the situation in Belgium, the Rhine-Alpine RFC’s report mentions that there currently are three sections of the corridor classified as potential capacity bottlenecks. They are the Brugges-Ghent, Ghent-Schellebelle and the Antwerp Berchen-Lier. By 2025, however, the lines with this label are expected to double, with the addition of the Ghent-Zwijndrecht Fort, Antwerpen Schijnpoort-Antwerpen Berchem and the Aarschot-Hasselt. Moreover, the Ghent Sint-Pieters node is also marked as a bottleneck from 2025. By 2030 the main bottlenecks identified by the report will be extended to three whole regions (Ghent, Antwerp and Aarschot). Finally, the Rooierweg-Tongeren, the Sint Niklaas-Lokered-Bernadette and the Aubry-Lier-Nazareth sections will also be considered bottlenecks by 2030.
Germany
The report underlined five capacity bottlenecks in Germany. They include the Kaldenkirchen-Viersen, the Aachen West-Stolberg, the Hürth/Kalscheuren-Remagen, the Offenburg-Basel Bad and the Mannheim-Zeppelinheim sections. For the last two, only sections of them are of interest for the Rhine-Alpine RFC. The situation is estimated to remain unchanged for 2025 as well as for 2030, meaning that these bottlenecks are expected to keep existing well into the 2030s.
Switzerland
The situation in the Helvetic Federation seems to be somewhat better, as the only bottleneck identified by the report is the section is the Lotschberg Tunnel. In August, the Swiss government opted for the doubling of the whole infrastructure. This section will remain labelled as a bottleneck also in 2030, as its commissioning is not expected before 2035. For the 2025 and 2030 scenario, the section from Pino to Bellinzona, leading to Italy, will be added to the bottlenecks in Switzerland. One additional bottleneck was identified in all three scenarios on the Swiss-Italian border, between Brig (CH) and Domodossola (IT).
Italy
Italy seems to be the one lagging behind. For 2023, the Rhine-Alpine RFC highlighted six bottlenecks and seven sections marked as exceeding the limited capacity threshold. The six bottleneck sections are the Luino-Laveno, the Laveno-Sesto Calende, the Busto Arsizio-Rho, the Pioltello-Melzo, the Milan Rogoredo-Melegnano and the Voghera-Tortona. The seven sections exceeding capacity are the Gallarate-Busto Arsizio, the Rho-Milan, the Seregno-Milan, the Milan Rogoredo-Pavia, the Pavia-Bressana Bottarone, the Melegnano-Piacenza and the Genoa Sestri Ponente-Genoa Sapierdarena.
By 2025, the bottleneck sections will become five, with the Laveno-Sesto Calende line expected to be solved. Sections exceeding capacity shall also decrease from six to five, with the Seregno-Milan leaving the list. By 2030, the bottleneck sections will be three, according to the report. The Luino-Laveno, the Pioltello-Melzo and the Voghera-Tortona are the remaining ones. The situation near Genoa should be resolved by the opening of the so-called Terzo Valico, which should be commissioned by 2025/2026. The sections marked as exceeding capacity will be five, as the Gallarate-Busto Arsizio section should be taken care of.
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