Study on Ports Network to Receive EU Support

The European Union will support with €750,000 from the TEN-T Program a project aimed at exploring the feasibility of connecting by rail a series of maritime and fluvial ports in north-eastern Greece and Bulgaria to create a multimodal freight corridor serving the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea and the Danube river.

The project, which is called “Sea2Sea” and was selected for funding under the 2011 TEN-T Annual Call, will develop the concept of a “Sea2Sea” corridor by linking Greek ports on the Aegean Sea with Bulgarian ones on Black Sea via a rail link and provide an alternative route to the congested Bosphorus Strait. Furthermore, the connection to fluvial ports on the Danube river will also be analyzed.

The project will study alternative development scenarios for the corridor, and look at how to achieve stakeholder engagement and public awareness. The major building blocks for the corridor’s implementation will be defined as well as a plan to enhance the corridors competitiveness once in operation.

The project will be managed by the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency and is set to be completed by the end of 2014.