The future of modal shift – the case of the freight corridor between Rotterdam and Moerdijk

Abstract

Whilst the flows of goods have already been increasing for decades, transport by road is not able to fulfil the demand anymore. Road capacity is being exceeded. However, transport by water still has enough capacity to take over the pressure of the flows of goods from the road. Even though this modal shift offers a suitable solution and initiatives are made, it has not been carried out on a large scale yet. Achieving a modal shift is difficult. The realization requires various adaptations, such as infrastructural changes, changes in business systems, changes in mentality and in public and private measures. In this research the freight transport corridor between the port of Rotterdam and the strategic hub of Moerdijk is discussed. This trajectory is part of the larger West-Brabant corridor. Both Rotterdam and Moerdijk have good multimodal accessibility, are powerful logistics hubs, and transport large numbers of goods. The future modal shift ambitions within the chosen corridor and the question whether these ambitions will lead to Moerdijk becoming an extended hub of Rotterdam will be discussed in this research. A qualitative method is chosen to gather information for this research. Information will be obtained through desk-research and interviews. In this way, an answer will be formulated to the research question: Why are the stakeholders' modal shift ambitions still not achieved in the freight corridor between the port of Rotterdam and the strategic hub of Moerdijk, and what can these ambitions mean for Moerdijk as an extended hub?