Millions for ports in Limburg
On Thursday, July 16, it was announced that the European Union (EU) will make 10.4 million euros available for three ports in Limburg. The College of Provincial Executive recently submitted a Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) subsidy application. With the allocation of these CEF funds, the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) on the Antwerp-Liège-Venlo-Nijmegen-Rotterdam connection will be improved at three locations for goods transport by water. These are the locations: the port of Heijen (Gennep), the port of Venlo and the port of Lanaken. The Province of Limburg was the initiator of this application on behalf of the entire area.
The CEF is an EU financial instrument for more growth, jobs and competitiveness. The EU thus encourages targeted investments that support the development of Trans-European Transport Networks. Provincial Executive Joost van den Akker (Economy, Logistics, Education and Sport).
The upgrades provide improved navigation conditions and more capacity for the passage of ships. It also handles the handling of various freight flows along the waterfront, allowing shifts to take place with other modes of transport. These connections allow for an easy shift to water transport and vice versa. The subsidy is mainly due to the approach to a capacity bottleneck at the three terminals, according to the favorable opinion from Brussels. Deputy Hubert Mackus (Agriculture, Landscape and Mobility):
Rhombusplan
With the help of this CEF financing, the so-called 'Rhombusplan' becomes reality. This concerns a diamond as shown below, in which the Netherlands, Belgium and part of North Rhine-Westphalia are approached in a multi-modal manner. The aim is to arrive at a network within which a modal shift between rail, road and water can be realized. This allows the infrastructure within this window to be used optimally and contributes to reducing congestion on the main European (hinterland) connections of the TEN-T core network.
Top corridors
The Rhombus Plan is part of the national approach to top corridors of the national government. In 2017, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the provinces of Gelderland, Noord-Brabant, Limburg and Zuid-Holland, the port of Rotterdam and the logistics top sector reached agreement on the improvement of the freight transport corridors in the east and southeast of the country. By joining forces between governments and with companies, and jointly applying for a subsidy in Brussels, major steps can be taken within the top corridors.
Back to news overview