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Mobility and Transport

The North Sea - Mediterranean corridor

Corridor description

The total length of the North Sea - Mediterranean corridor (NSM) is 5 465 km long, including the Connecting Europe Facility 2 (CEF 2) extension. It crosses 5 countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and Ireland.

ERTMS deployment on the corridor

The following image shows the state of play and deadlines for the ERTMS deployment in the NSM corridor, considering the dates of the EDP:

North Sea-Med Corridor: Passenger & freight

Overall, ETCS is operational on 17% of NSM, while GSM-R is operational on 78% of the corridor. According to the EDP, 1 565 km are expected to be operational by 2023. In March 2023, 57% of the NSM length planned in the EDP by 2023 was in operation with ETCS.  According to the TEN-T Guidelines, 5 026 km are expected to be equipped by 2030.

The deployment status per Member State where the NSM corridor runs is as follows:

  • The Irish network is exempt but Irish authorities have plans to deploy Level 1 ETCS on the whole network by 2040. A GSM-R voice system is being rolled out to replace the existing analogue radio network by 2025.
  • There are two operational lines on NSM in France: the Rémilly – Strasbourg line and Thionville – Luxembourg border line. According to the French plan, the Thionville – Metz – Strasbourg – Mulhouse – Basel conventional line, planned in the EDP by 2020, is delayed until 2025. Regarding sections scheduled in the EDP beyond 2023, the French plans do not support that those lines will be in operation by 2030.
  • In Belgium, most of the NSM lines are already in operation, including one cross-border section with the Netherlands and the other one with Luxemburg. Although some sections planned in the EDP by 2023 will be delayed, the Belgian authorities still plan the entire Belgian network to be equipped by 2025.
  • The lines currently in operation in the Netherlands had already been commissioned when the EDP was published in 2017. According to the Dutch plan, all remaining Dutch sections are planned by 2030 except for the Roosendaal – Vlissingen line.
  • The whole Luxembourg network is already in operation.