CREAM partners call for a capable container terminal for the Sofia region

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) October 29, 2009 -- Hanover/Sofia. The operating partners of the EU project CREAM (Customer-driven Rail-freight services on a European mega-corridor based on Advanced business and operating models) and further stakeholder from the transport sector have executed a declaration to support the development of intermodal transport in Bulgaria. They underline the need to strengthen the position of rail in South East Europe. Now the declaration has been handed over to the Bulgarian government.

Due to the enlargement of the European Union, Bulgaria is more than ever an important focal point. The freight corridors to Greece and Turkey have experienced a dynamic economic development in recent years. As soon as the global economic crisis is over, transports in these regions are expected to experience high growth rates again.

Currently there is only one outdated container handling spot in Sofia, which is not capable of processing the required freight volumes. The lack of infrastructure is also a constraint to an optimal capacity usage of the pan-European transport corridors 4, 8 and 10. Today, Budapest and Belgrade represent the last major hubs for container transports in the direction of South East Europe. It is intended to raise the share of intermodal transport considerably by improving decisive framework conditions. In detail the signatories of the declaration propose to implement effective organisational structures for the terminal development and operation and to build a high-capacity container transhipment terminal in the Sofia region.

With the expansion of the terminal transhipment capacity in Sofia the situation of international freight transport is expected to improve dramatically. Not only the location of Sofia will benefit from its integration in the intermodal transport network, also rail itself can score with shorter journey times and better quality.


Please contact for further information: HaCon Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Lister Straße 15 | 30163 Hannover | Germany | Phone: +49 (0) 511 3369 9-0, www.hacon.de

About CREAM

CREAM is an EU project which aims at improving rail freight between West and South East Europe. The project has been set up first of all to shorten rail transport times on this axis and to cause a substantial modal shift of transport volumes towards rail. 26 partners from 12 countries are involved in this project - including railway companies, the International Union of Railways UIC, transport operators, research institutes and consulting firms. ,CREAM' stands for ‚Customer-driven Rail freight services on a European mega-corridor based on Advanced business and operating models': Practically, the partners are developing rail-based transport solutions and technological innovations, to meet the more and more demanding customer requirements. Besides this they are working on organisational improvements to optimise all interfaces in the transport chain. The project is coordinated by the German based firms HaCon and KombiConsult.

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