Transit infrastructure development:EATL, TEM and TER ProjectsArtur BoutenLegal officerUNECE TIR secretariat

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EURO-ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKS EURO-ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKS

EATL OBJECTIVES

To make the Europe-Asia overland transport links more efficient, fast, safe, secure and competitive

To address growing trade between Asia and Europe and congestion of major ports

To address infrastructure and border crossing obstacles

To foster integration and cooperation in the region towards more sustainable transport

28 countries, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

EATL Phase 1 (2002-07)

Main Achievements

• Selection of main Euro-Asian road, rail and inland water transport routes, transshipment points and ports

• Prioritization of projects• First analysis of physical and non-physical

obstacles• Establishment of database and Geographic

Information Systems (GIS) maps• Joint ECE-ESCAP study with results, conclusions

and recommendations on the way how to proceed

Phase 2 - Report

• Identified 9 road and 9 rail EATL routes for priority development, investment and cooperation, including EATL ports, transshipment points and terminals

•  311 priority overland transport projects - total cost $215 billion• Study of transport statistics, flows and trends showed a rapid

growth of Europe-Asian trade and increasing inter-Asian trade trends 

• Comparison study of Euro-Asian maritime routes with selected rail routes is a part of the EATL Phase 2 Report

• Compared nine door-to-door transport scenarios:• Time-wise• Cost-wise

• In five out of the nine scenarios, rail transport performs better than maritime for both the cost and time!

• In all nine scenarios, rail transport performs better than the maritime in terms of time

• Identified non-physical obstacles to transport along the EATL routes: Long waiting times at BCP, sometimes a whole day; hardly 24/7, long delays for veterinary, phyto-sanitary, passport, transit, visa and other controls

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Door-to-door comparison

Average border crossing times for selected BCP, 2013

Source: CAREC, CARECCPMM Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring Annual Report, 2013

EATL Phase 2 – Final ReportReport (600 pages) is freely available in English and Russian

http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp5/eatl_phase_2_final_report.html

EATL Phase 3 (2013-15)

• The principal objective for EATL in Phase 3 is to make the identified overland EATL rail and road routes operational

• International Financial Institutions and the relevant national infrastructure development bodies will be encouraged to direct their activities to coordinate infrastructure investment plans, as well as to attract private investment

• Promote coordination and facilitation of financing of infrastructural projects

• Facilitation of transport by removing physical and administrative bottlenecks when crossing borders

• Further improve GIS internet free-access application and develop a web tool to compare inland transport options and maritime

• Funding – sponsors and hosts are welcome

EATL Phase 3

UNECE ACTIVITIES

UNECE ACTIVITIES

TEM and TERThe Trans-European North-South Motorway (TEM) and Trans-European Railway (TER) projects are unique Pan-European transport infrastructure projects bringing together countries of the European Union (EU), EU candidate countries as well as other United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Member States in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

21 countries participate, among which Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The TEM and TER Master Plans show the backbone for road and rail networks with a realistic investment strategy for gradual development.

As many as 491 projects with an aggregate estimated cost of EUR 102 billion have been evaluated and prioritized.

Implementation will contribute to the economic growth of the countries concerned and to the wellbeing of their populations, as well as assisting the integration and harmonization of transport within Europe and beyond

Success will depend on the political will of countries as well as on the availability of national and international funding

Project is supported by efforts to established a single Unified Railway Law (UNECE Working on Rail Transport (SC.2)

Legal Framework: the example of Railways

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Inland Transport CommitteeSustainable Transport Division

Regulatory work Analytical work Technical assistance

capacity bldg accession implementation

• International platform

Artur BoutenUNECE TIR SECRETARIAT

Sustainable Transport Division

8-14, Avenue de la PaixCH-1211 Geneva 10

SwitzerlandPhone: +41 22 917 2433

Fax: +41 22 917 0614Email: artur.bouten@unece.org

THANK YOU!http://www.unece.org/trans/welcome.html

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Sustainable Transport Division