The possibilities for Intermodal Transport in Belgium

Due to the globalisation of the economy and the associated growth of international trade, the increase in good flows became higher than  GDP growth. The containerisation of goods from the sixties onwards had a lot to do with this evolution as it made overseas transport substantially cheaper and more efficient. As ports, ships and logistics adapted towards this containerisation of goods, even more scale advantages were possible and this further triggered the global production of goods. A number of major ports faced a significant increase in the amount of containers to be handled. The port of Antwerp, for example, faced an annual increase of approximately 10%. Of course these containers need to be transported on to the hinterland and this is where intermodal transport plays an ever increasing role. Intermodal transport combines different transport modes, and will bring the containers from the seaport by barge or by rail (or even by short sea shipping) to an intermodal terminal in the hinterland from where they are subsequently delivered to their end destinations by road.  

In Belgium we see clearly that the possibilities for the hinterland traffic have been adapting themselves towards the new volumes that are handled at the sea terminals. The number of intermodal terminals increased considerably during the last decade. At the moment thirteen inland waterway terminals exist in Belgium, and new projects are underway. The rail/road terminal landscape has not evolved as rapidly,  but new services were nevertheless set up. In 2004, the railway company B-Cargo decided to set up the Narcon (National Rail Container Network) concept in order to offer intermodal transport by establishing rail/road services between the port of Antwerp and the port of Zeebrugge and various inland terminals.