Characteristics of the corridor
The North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean European transport corridor (NSRM) was established by the Regulation (EU)2024/1679 that merged two former TEN-T core network corridors: Rhine – Alpine and North Sea – Mediterranean. The NSRM corridor stretches across eight European countries, namely Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. It comprises about 12 150 km of railway lines, 5 000 km of roads and 5 030 km of inland waterways.
Overview
In the north-west, the corridor connects the Irish capital Dublin and the maritime ports Cork and Foynes and provides a link to Northern Ireland. These ports are connected to the maritime ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Vlissingen in the Netherlands, Antwerp and Zeebrugge in Belgium, Dunkerque, Calais and Le Havre in France, all located along the North Sea and the English Channel.
Starting in the Dutch capital Amsterdam, the eastern corridor axis links the Netherlands with the Rhine-Ruhr, Rhine-Main and Rhine-Neckar regions in western Germany, continues via Bern in Switzerland and crosses northern Italy before reaching the Italian maritime port of Genoa at the Mediterranean Sea.
The western axis of the corridor starts in Le Havre, then connects the French capital Paris with Dijon and Lyon before reaching the two Mediterranean ports of Marseille and Fos-sur-Mer in the south of France.
And in between, the central axis connects Lille in northern France, the Belgian capital Brussels and Luxembourg, among others, before joining the two outer axes again in Strasbourg and Dijon. There are numerous intersecting connections between the three axes as well as other important cities and industrial regions in the heart of Europe.
The NSRM corridor covers rail, inland waterways, road, and air transport infrastructure as well as urban nodes and rail-road terminals. It incorporates the Rhine as a major inland waterway in Europe, as well as important tunnelling projects in Switzerland, including the Gotthard base tunnel - the world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel. Key projects on the corridor include the Seine-Escaut inland waterway connection encompassing France and Belgium, and the EuroCap railway project involving France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Missing links
Bridging missing links and removing bottlenecks is an essential priority of Regulation (EU)2024/1679. The list of identified missing links and bottlenecks below is based on the previous TENT-T corridors will be updated.
The Corridor’s railway network is mature and only a few missing links remain. This concerns in particular the EuroCap railway link which should modernise the connection Brussels-Luxembourg-Strasbourg to achieve a high-performance line between the three European capitals. Further missing links include the reinstatement of the connection from Limerick to Foynes in Ireland and the Antwerp bypass between Lier and the Port of Antwerp in Belgium. In France, three sections of the Rhine-Rhône highspeed line need to be tackled, as well as the new Paris-Le Havre line. There are also remaining capacity bottlenecks on the entire corridor, especially in and around urban nodes.
As far as the corridor’s inland waterways are concerned, there are several issues related to CEMT Class IV and draught. The relevant sections are located on the Rhine in Germany, Belgium and France. The latter two are currently being addressed as part of the Seine-Escaut project. In addition, there are lock capacity issues on the Moselle in Germany. New canals will also be constructed: the Seine-Nord Europe canal in northern France, the Saône-Rhine and Saône-Moselle canals in eastern France, as well as a new canal bypassing Brugge between Ghent and Zeebrugge in Belgium.
Corridor roads are overall meeting the TEN-T technical parameters. However, the network suffers from capacity bottlenecks, especially in and around urban nodes. So far, the following four missing links have been identified and projects are being implemented to remove them:
- In the Netherlands, the A15 motorway is being extended between Arnhem and the German border and the A16-A13 bypass of Rotterdam will be completed.
- In Belgium, the north-western section of the R1 Oosterweel ring-road in Antwerp will be finalised.
- In France, the A31 bypass around Nancy will be realised.
Corridor achievements
The implementation of the NSRM Corridor focuses on investments in sustainable modes of transport, in particular rail and inland waterways, and projects related to the corridor digitalisation and decarbonisation. Major achievements include:
- the Betuwe line improving the hinterland connection of the Port of Rotterdam;
- the Gotthard Base Tunnel connecting northern Europe and Italy;
- the new sea lock in Ijmuiden connecting the Port of Amsterdam to the North Sea;
- the construction of the Theemsweg railway section, improving the access to the Port of Rotterdam.
Ms Beata Tuszynska, Adviser of the European Coordinator
beata [dot] tuszynska
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (beata[dot]tuszynska[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Postal address
Rhine-Alpine CNC / TEN-T
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport
Rue de Mot 28
1049 Brussels
Belgium
Maps
Workplans
1st Rhine-Alpine Corridor work plan
2nd Rhine-Alpine Corridor work plan
3rd Rhine-Alpine Corridor work plan
4th Rhine-Alpine Corridor work plan
5th Rhine-Alpine Corridor work plan
Studies
Rhine-Alpine Core Network Corridor Study (2014)
Rhine-Alpine Core Network Corridor Study (2017) Final report