Lithuania highlights development of intermodal transport
"A lot was done in order to establish new guidelines for the Trans-European Transport network that will strengthen the economic and social cohesion of the Member States", Rimantas Sinkevičius, the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania said at the Informal Transport Ministerial Council held in Milan.
According to Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications, on 16-17 September, the Minister presented the Council Lithuania‘s position on planning, governance and funding of the Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) network.
"Lithuania encourages including various transport modes in TEN-T network without prioritizing only the rail connections. Both rail and road transport connections should be developed equally", Rimantas Sinkevičius assessed the current trends in the EU Transport policy.
The Minister underlined that in order to implement the objective of the European Commission i.e. create a comprehensive united transport network fully covering the EU, the EU infrastructure policy should be adjusted.
In addition, Rimantas Sinkevičius indicated that the EU funds should be distributed according to the needs and financial capacity of the Member State.
The Trans-European Transport network, covering all EU territory and having the highest traffic load and intensity, is the core network promoting a highly efficient logistics and competitiveness of the EU.
Lithuanian territory is crossed by one of the nine major TEN-T Corridors i.e. the North Sea–Baltic Corridor. It encompasses the Rail Balticaproject and Rail Freight Corridor, connecting the ports of the Netherlands and Belgium and Kaunas with an extension to Tallinn to be implemented soon.