Eurasian Landbridge and the Baltic ports

ARNAUD SERRYUNIVERSITY OF ORLEANS

RGS-IBG Annual International ConferenceUniversity of Edinburgh, 3-5 July 2012

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INTRODUCTION

Sea transport “royal road” between Europe and Asia

Many alternatives are studied : Air/Sea , Eurasian Landbridge…

•Landbrige: traffic that is transiting across a continent en route to overseas destinations.But used as the generic term to label any form on long distance inland transportation.

→ Baltic States are positioning themselves as potential privileged spaces for the development of intermodality

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SHORT HISTORY OF LANDBRIDGES

Silk Road : most enduring trade route in human history

Land only routes prevailed well into the 15th century. Development of rail networks → First modern landbridges : Canadian Pacific Railway

modern landbridges associated with developments in intermodal transportation

1979, first dedicated express container trains across the United States.

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DEFINITION

Landbridge : Traffic that is transiting across a continent en route to overseas destinations : traffic between Western Europe and Japan.

Shipments from one side of the continent to the other is another category : China to Germany.

Regional traffic may use the overland corridor for a portion : Western Europe and Kazakhstan.

But 2 major characteristics :• a single bill of lading• goods remain in the same container.

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NORTH AMERICAN DESIGNATIONS

4 main types of landbridges:

Landbridge: Using a landmass as a link in a maritime transport chain involving a foreign origin and destination.

Mini landbridge: Using a landmass as a link in a transport chain involving a foreign origin and a destination at the end of the landmass.

Micro landbridge: Using a landmass as a link in a transport chain involving a foreign origin and an inland destination.

Reverse landbridge: Through a maritime detour reaching an inland destination by using the closest maritime facade instead of the landbridge.

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EAST-WEST FREIGHT CORRIDOR

Trans Siberian railway linking Moscow to Vladivostok, completed in 1916

1960s : landbridge service from Vladivostok using the Trans Siberian to reach Western Europe.

→ Northern East-West corridor or the Eurasian Landbridge

The Eurasian landbridge mainly uses the Russian railways,

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EURASIAN LANDBRIDGE

Beginning of the 21st century : renewed interests for the new corridor

Composed of a maritime segment and a land segment:• Links the Atlantic coast of North America with north European

ports. • two major rail segments: the conventional Siberian Landbridge

and the potential Eurasian Landbridge.

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POTENTIAL CORRIDORS

The Trans-Siberian Railway : principal railway link between European Russia and its industrial regions to the east (Siberia, the Urals, etc.). The Northern Trans-Asian corridor is viewed as the second most developed corridor after the TSR The Central Trans-Asian corridor runs from the Sino-Kazakh border via Dostyk to Almaty to Volgograd in Russia A North-South Eurasian corridor: economic interests of Central Asian states and Russia to get better access to the Middle East and South  The Southern Trans-Asian corridor is also a potentially useful route.  TRACECA Trans-Caspian corridor : Dostyk – Tashkent – Ashgabad – Turkmenbashi – Baku – Tbilisi – Poti route

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CHALLENGES AND LIMITS

Numerous challenges of the NEW corridor: Multinational cooperation : Technical bottlenecks : standard (1.435 m) and broad (1.520 m)→ reloading or an adaptation of the equipment to gauge change : delays !

Obstacles:Technical: missing link, single tracking, electrification…Commercial: As much as time and distance advantages of the landbridge are evident, a critical factor is cost.Operational: customs clearance and border controls, credibility, reputation.

→ Direct overland shipments remain insignificant.

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POTENTIALITY FOR LANDBRIDGES

In spite of these challenges, the prospects of the Eurasian Landbridge remain positive.

The northern corridors have received more attention because of the presumed time/ distance advantages.

Step-by-step development

Ports in Europe extend their intermodal connections eastward.

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BALTIC OPPORTUNITIES

Baltic States are privileged spaces for the development of intermodality:•Western "natural" terminus of the rail network•Trans-European Networks and emergence of multimodal logistics platforms.•Feeder connections to the Northern Range.

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BALTIC PORTS

Main gateways for Russia and CIS.

Particularities : •Purpose: Exports of raw materials from Russia and the CIS countries and import of manufactured goods. •Importance of transit •Increasing traffic of crude oil•Increase of regional ro-ro flows •Growth of container movement•Concentration of traffic in some ports: Saint-Peterburg, Primorsk, Tallinn, Riga and Klaipeda.

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RAILWAYS IMPORTANCE

Link between port flows and railway transport: good carried by rail.

Main international rail freight concern Russia.

Spatial differentiation of hinterlands, neighborhood…

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BLOCK TRAINS

Rapid growth of container flows→ Block trains : train in which all the wagons making it up are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route.

•“door-to-door” delivery,•safety and •easy border crossing and customs procedures

4 types of “block train” : shuttle, part …

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BLOCK TRAINS IN BALTIC STATES

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BLOCK TRAINS AS THE FIRST STEP TO THE LANDBRIDGE

Northern route through the Baltic Sea : link with The Trans-Siberian Railway or The Northern Trans-Asian corridor.

Avoids transit through intermediate countries: less technical bottlenecks.

Shortest route through Lithuanian ports.

Other beneficiary : German ports as Hamburg.

Baltic countries opportunity : being an important linking element between two major economical unions.

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CORRIDOR AND TERRITORY

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CONCLUSION

a major impact on international trade between two of the main trading blocs of the world?

lots of unanswered questions : cooperation…

Baltic States : well-developed transport system, geopolitical situation

→ of Intermodal Gateway ?

Not limit corridor to logistics solutions !