Scandria Partners meet for Midterm Conference in Malmö

Looking forward and looking back - that was the aim of the Scandria mid-term Conference in Malmö. 18 months through the project, this was primarily an opportunity to look back on successes already achieved. And these successes are plentiful: the Rostock-Gedser ferry link, for instance, has been included in the European Union's "Motorways of the Sea" programme. Another major step has been the re-activation of the Neuruppin-Neustadt (Dosse) rail line through the HUB 53/12° logistics network. The aim of the network, created by the municipalities of Güstrow, Prignitz and Neuruppin, is to boost the links between the Baltic ports and their hinterland. One of the project's other milestones is the development of new block trains, which in future will connect Scandinavia with the Adriatic and shift freight transport to rail. Studies carried out by the Scania region and the University of Roskilde highlight the correlation between the logistics sector and the excellent potential for innovation in the corridor.

Dr. Per Tryding from the Southern Sweden Chamber of Commerce stressed Germany's importance as Sweden's number two export destination after Norway. Targeted investments in infrastructure, such as the Øresund Bridge, enable natural barriers to be removed and markets integrated. For instance, just one year after the bridge opened, Sweden's exports to Denmark rose by 60%.

Horst Sauer from the Joint Spatial Planning Department of Berlin and Brandenburg, the lead partner of the Scandria project, said that the impending start of the building work on the Brenner Base Tunnel through the Alps represented one of the key investments in transport along this corridor. The completion of the high-speed Berlin-Nuremberg, Copenhagen-Ringsted und Berlin-Dresden rail lines and the expansion of the Rostock-Gedser and Sassnitz-Trelleborg ferry services in the next few years will make the corridor fit for the growing freight and passenger transport volume.

The partners are committed to a green Baltic-Adriatic corridor in which transport can be operated in a smart, environmentally friendly way. From 10 -13 May 2011, solutions supported by the Wildau University of Technology and the Transport Ministries of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will be presented at the Transport Logistics Fair in Munich, one of the leading international trade shows of this kind.