Port Highlight: Port of Switzerland

Good news about our ports

22 September 2021

After many online meetings, EFIP is very excited to organise its 2021 Executive Committee Meeting in Basel, hosted by the Port of Switzerland. Discover the Port of Switzerland in this Port Highlight!

Basel is the end point of the Rhine and a gateway to Southern Europe while also being a transition point between multiple forms of transport. What is the biggest challenge to successful multimodal transport in that situation?

Basel is situated geographically in the heart of Europe, in a central position along the Rhine-Alpine-Corridor. In the Swiss part, the realisation of the first Alpine base-links via Lötschberg and Gotthard – Ceneri were milestones, which has been successfully implemented in the last years. Crucial for an effective modal split is not only corridor capacity, but also terminal links with enough capacity for transfer between the different modes of transport. Therefore, Port of Switzerland will realise a new direct link to the future Gateway Basel-Nord with the basin 3, which financing has been approved last November by a popular vote in the Canton of Basel-City.

Aside from hard infrastructure and analogue ways of working, how do you employ digital system to support and increase the competitiveness of multimodal transport?

Digitalisation is essential for the future of Inland Ports and connecting multimodal transport. Port of Switzerland, together with RheinPorts GmbH and duisport, is expanding the successful RheinPorts Information System, a platform for traffic capacity management along the Inland Ports in Europe. This platform is the first application in inland waterways on European level.

Switzerland is not part of the EU but is an essential part of the European Transport area. What steps do legislators need to take in order for multimodal transport to be a success?

The Swiss Government, and confirmed by the People in several public votes, is supporting multimodal transport, especially green transport by rail. The modal shift train to road in transit through Switzerland is a European-wide record, with around 70%. A key topic for further success will be a still closer integration of inland ports in the TEN-T-corridors to make efficient use from the connecting potential of ports.

Port Highlight: Port of Switzerland

Good news about our ports

Related documents