Mrs Bulc,
Excellencies,
Mr Cramer,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure and intention today, here in Riga, this wonderful old town that is also a modern Hanseatic city, to start a lively discussion about a topic that is also old and modern at the same time.
The issue is how our Europe is drawing closer together, and that its 500 million inhabitants, being entitled to the freedom of movement for people and goods, want to exercise their right in very practical terms, not just in theory. And we realize that neither on land, water, or in the air should this desire be hampered by obstacles that are difficult to surmount, such as railway points stuck together by rust or dilapidated lock gates.
Riga lies on the beautiful Baltic Sea, just as my city, Hamburg, does ... indirectly, if not in fact. Over a century ago, the construction of the Kiel Canal, linking the North Sea with the Baltic, first brought us closer together. Today people can fly non-stop from Hamburg to Riga; afterwards, a short train ride brings them to the beach of Jurmala, and, in two or three years, the citizens of Riga could be flying to Hamburg for a concert in our Elbphilharmonie. That is marvellous. But how long should industrial goods take to travel from A to B in future? Consumer goods, say? Or what about fish? Obviously, I dont mean the kind that can still swim by itself.
Hamburg has the privilege - thanks to its size, location and history - of being one of the
biggest transport nodes in north Europe. The port makes my city the hub for overseas trade to and from north, central and east Europe. It has a large civil airport serving international destinations. Hamburg is also the starting point, or on the transit route, of several Federal motorways, trunk roads and railway lines that connect us with the whole of Europe.
So we are not just part of the European Union, but also one of the continents gateways to the world. And if we point out that Hamburg is already the largest city in the Union that is not the capital city of a member state, that is not just an interesting fact we tell tourists. Being an urban node thus places Hamburg on an equal footing with Paris, London, Berlin, Riga and other capitals.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is well known that the European Union highly values urban nodes as important, integral parts of the Trans-European transport network. So Im well into the heart of the matter now, which is set out in Article 30 of Regulation 1315 slash 2013 on Union Guidelines for the development of TEN-T.
Article 30 defines a series of requirements for urban nodes, both those of the comprehensive and the core network. These urban nodes aim at facilitating through-traffic, transfers within and between the TEN-T modes as well as connecting with the last mile in cities the latter essentially in the form of traffic management and information services.
This brings us back to Hamburg, because in our thriving city issues such as the way TEN-T railway lines connect within urban nodes, how city bypasses function and how various core network corridors connect with urban nodes are matters of constant concern.
I understand that, more generally, the Commission are promoting, via their new TEN-T policy, the whole range of TEN-T related issues in urban nodes, thus stimulating implementation of the urban mobility package. They are particularly encouraging cooperation between cities along core network corridors, where mutual benefits may include the removal of urban bottlenecks along main TEN-T arteries; improved connections between TEN-T and local transport networks; upgrading multimodal transport systems and a shift towards more sustainable transport modes.
I am glad to hear, too, that if urban nodes do take appropriate action they may benefit from EU funding through CEF, the Connecting Europe Facility. In that case, they could assume a more active role in the core network corridor governance system as well. I take it that interconnections between transport modes are amongst the highest priorities in this context. Just a few of the latest examples that might be named are; port interconnections in Gdansk and Gdynia, port and airport interconnections in Barcelona, and rail node improvements in Ljubljana.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For the first time ever, officials in Brussels are using guidelines that take account of cities as key players in cross-border infrastructure policies, and can thus lean on the right partners. And there is every reason to do so, because economic growth is always generated in places where global streams of goods meet and cross. Industries that buy basic materials or semi-finished products from all over the world, and sell their own goods to international customers, prefer these locations to others.
The multimodal TEN-T core network of corridors will make a major contribution to European integration and further strengthen the single market. Steps to upgrade the multimodal capabilities of rail, inland waterway and sea transportation infrastructures in the context of the TEN-T, plus innovative transportation technologies, will bring some welcome, added benefits: less congestion on the roads, less pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and, above all, greater traffic safety. And more competition for business, unhindered by buffers, rusted up points, and, another important factor, creaking bureaucracy, will, in the final analysis, result in more jobs everywhere.
The TEN-T will further boost the decentralized development of Europes hinterland with connections to several important, competing sea ports. Traffic volumes will be routed along various corridors in a way that is both economically sensible and sustainable. And because some of the land corridors have already reached the limits of their capacities, the movement of goods to and from the ports can, in the long run, only be managed through a division of methods and modes.
Being steeped in Hanseatic traditions, we have always known that good international relations and cross-border standards are important. Today, six of the nine multimodal Trans-European corridors run through Germany.
The metropolitan region of Hamburg is directly affected by the North Sea-Baltic corridor, the Orient/East-Med corridor and the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor.
One important project for this latter corridor is the fixed Fehmarn Belt link, including its approaches - in other words, the route linking Copenhagen and Hamburg via Fehmarn. It is an essential link between the biggest Scandinavian population centres and the European land mass, and is greatly supported by Denmark.
As yet, not all of the tight bends in this grand project can be taken without a squeal of brakes. That is to be understood in the literal sense too. The hinterland connections with the Fehmahrn Belt link have been sketched out in the treaty between Denmark and Germany. The task of replacing the current single-track Watercress Line between the island of Fehmarn and the city of Lübeck with a double track is not for the faint-hearted. However, plying back and forth on the route popularly known as the Bird Flight Line, the ferries between Germany and Denmark already transport several hundred thousand trucks and several million cars each year. Major long-distance train services also use the ships, but have to adjust their length to fit the ferries. Sooner or later, the limits to capacity will become plain to see, and we need to do something now.
As far as railways are concerned, we are strong advocates of the creation of a unified European railway area, for example by implementing the European Train Control System, ETCS. In the interests of a functioning single market, it is important to progress quickly, to switch the lights to green and end national incompatibilities, in order to create a truly European standard, boosting the carrying capacity of the same infrastructure.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Of course, we should see to our own homework first. In order to optimize infrastructure in Hamburg port and take some of the traffic off the long-distance route from Hamburg to the Fehmarn fixed link, we are planning to build an additional, parallel line for regional commuter traffic; the service is called the S 4, the fast train number 4 and thats what its going to be.
We have set up the smartPORT logistics initiative in order to improve the flow of traffic to and from the port. You certainly dont need to be told what that means. It is fascinating, but also imperative, to employ increasingly elaborate digitalization that links elements into the Internet of Things, forcing, as it were, the existing infrastructure to do some of the thinking for us.
We were, by the way, very pleased to hear that the feedback from the EU on the SmartPort projects has been extremely positive. Our approach towards better use of existing infrastructure and getting rid of bottlenecks in the TEN-T corridors exactly matches - as far as I can see - the approach taken by the Commission.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Much more remains to be said apart from these few bald comments, but nine minutes are nine minutes; Ive overrun a bit already, and times money, in transportation and in the conference context.
In the past, rail cars in the English-speaking world carried signs saying No loose shunting. I dont know if the signs are still used, but I do know one thing: a great deal of political shunting lies ahead of us, until the aim of these TEN-T Days, Connecting Europe, is truly attained. I hope you have good discussions that keep right on track.
Thank you very much.
Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.