European transport corridor development - The example of the Rhine-Alpine corridor

Duration: 22nd April – 15th July 2015 (12 weeks)

Participants: 7 students

Supervisors: Karina Pallagst und Beate Caesar

Language: German, literature and interviews partially in Englisch

The Rhine-Alpine-Corridor is on of the nine EU TEN-T core network corridors. It links the economically most prosperous and densest populated regions of the EU, approximately 50 percent of the rail freight transport of the EU is moved on this corridor. The ERDF funded project CODE24 addressed the corridor development in this important transport axis which leads from Rotterdam to Genoa. The aim of the INTERREG project was the preparation of a coordinated corridor development strategy. The project was completed in the end of 2014. Due to the foundation of a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) the cooperation shall be prolonged sustainably in the future.

The aim of the Bachelor project was to explore the tool of transport corridor development and to analyse how the tool contributes to cross-border cooperation. The investigation was conducted on the practical example of the INTERREG project CODE24. Planning practicioners were actively involved by conducting interviews with persons responsible of the project CODE24, representatives of the European Commission (DG Move), the Rail Freight Corridor Rhine-Alpine and the German city Lahr.

The Bachelor project was offered in the light of the research project „Border Futures – Zukunftsfähigkeit von grenzüberschreitender Kooperation“ of the Academy for Spatial Research and Planning (ARL). Within the scope of the Bachelor project two daytrips to Mannheim and Frankfurt - which belong to the case study area were made.