Intermodal Freight Services Development Committees
The project pursues the creation of regional Intermodal Freight Services Development Committees. Each regional Committee will operate as a technical working group to analyze the operational feasibility and the socio-economic return of new intermodal freight services, on demand of interested companies or by proposal of any of its members. In addition, this technical group would provide a wide range of commercial support possibilities. A key point is the demand-oriented approach. This means that the Committees will not promote any new service unless it meets a proven need by shippers, forwarders or transport operators. Their commitment is to help those economic agents developing new business opportunities and to improve the regional competitiveness of the concerned territories, not only individually but also taking into account the benefits shared by the whole Mediterranean area over its competitors. The project will be structured in 4 axes. Each axis will be addressed by a Working Group (WG) that will involve all relevant local stakeholders and complementary actors (public bodies, port authorities, chambers of commerce and intermodal freight transport operators). Every WG will be lead by a different partner, taking advantage of its relevant knowledge and competences. 1st WG: Strategic Planning. Establishing a common working framework. Joint definition of the concept of Development Committees, as starting points and involved stakeholders are different for each region. This phase shall allow the administrative setup and the specific role definition of all regional Committees, and also to share information about services and infrastructures mapping. WG Coordinator: General Council of Catalan Chambers of Commerce. Chronogram: 4 months (January 2013 - April 2013). 2nd WG: Operational activities. Active promotion of new services and routes. Each regional Committee will be focused on the identification of new demand-oriented transport services or operational facilities needed and the elaboration of feasibility and viability analysis of actions jointly with interested companies, giving priority to cross-border dimension. WG Coordinator: Port of La Spezia. Chronogram: 26 months (May 2013 - June 2015). 3rd WG: Accompanying Measures. Identifications of mechanisms and best practices to increase the competitiveness of intermodal and rail freight transport. This phase will include the development of pilot actions and an intense effort on the communication strategy. WG Coordinator: Port of Koper. Chronogram: 26 months (May 2013 - June 2015). 4th WG. Promotional and Sustainability Actions. Project partners will focus on the future sustainability and transferability of the Committees and their link with the governance structure provided by the European Commission for a coordinated approach with regard to infrastructure use and investments of every Core Network Corridor: the Corridor Platform. WG Coordinator: Generalitat de Catalunya. Chronogram: 12 months (July 2014 - June 2015).