More intermodal connections for the North Sea region

The NSR Connect Final Conference showcases innovative efficient and sustainable transportation network solutions to support intermodality growth in the North Sea Region.

The final conference of NSR Connect took place in Hamburg in March. During this event, challenges and opportunities identified for further integration and collaboration along the TEN-T Core Network Corridors in the North Sea Region have been discussed with all relevant stakeholders along the supply chains. The conference brought the project partners together one last time with different and future orientated ideas from different countries to share their knowledge and experiences. The cooperation between the partners that has been initiated through the project will go on and continue after the project end.

During the conference, many impressive solutions were discussed, such as the rail port community system transPORT rail developed for the Port of Hamburg. This IT supporting tool is an excellent example of how technology is being used to develop a traffic management system for rail transport which provides an effective interface for freight and data transport.Another exciting development presented at the conference was the smart urban logistics at the port of Brussels. The Brussels Construction Consolidation Centre (BCCC) enables sustainable urban distribution of building materials, reducing the environmental impact of transportation while also improving the efficiency of logistics operations.

The conference also addressed smart seaport terminal accessibility at the port of Gothenburg. This is a critical aspect of efficient transportation networks in order to establish seamless information exchange between involved actors.Additionally, the Port of Oostende in cooperation with VIVES developed a digital twin for autonomous loading/unloading activities in ports. An important step to make intermodal transport more competitive and to cope with lack of staff capacity in this field. These developments represent one important aspect of the future transportation networks, where technology and innovation play a vital role in ensuring that goods can be transported efficiently and sustainably.

The North Sea Region (NSR) is one of Europe's most important logistics zones, and it's housing the largest seaports and intermodal transportation nodes. To boost the market potential of these locations, efficient, smart, and ecological transportation networks are critical. That's where the NSR Connect project comes in.

NSR Connect is a project that - under the lead of the Port of Hamburg- has been working on providing new, tested solutions for smart urban city logistics, smart port operation, and better multimodal integration. The solutions developed by this project will help to put a stronger focus on the transport network "behind" the Core Network, the major transport axes across Europe. The efficiency of transport flows relies not only on major nodes but also on their hinterlands. NSR Connect brings these aspects into focus.