Lobbyists say road and rail congestion threaten Copenhagen's growing status as a regional logistics hub.
Industry players say a lack of funding and 'incoherent' transport policies could undermine growth.
“All the good work of the port, efficiency and all, will be made useless by congested roads,” said a shipping superintendent to Portworld today.
According to Erik Østergaard, head of the Danish Transport and Logistics group, Denmark's geographical position gives Copenhagen a unique opportunity to be a logistical gateway to Scandinavia, the Baltic and Russia.
“If you look at Singapore, it has succeeded in exploiting its location as a hub for the rest of Asia. We also have an opportunity to raise our profile,” said Østergaard.
The infrastructure commission is due to report its initial recommendations to the government in January.
The commission has, among other things, called for a more focus on Denmark's transport gateways including tackling Copenhagen's traffic bottlenecks and the better use of existing capacity along with the building of new roads.
“We are lagging behind in terms of investment and we face real problems on roads if we do not address this issue,” said Østergaard.
“It is important (that) we pay more attention to sectoral thinking and look at the needs of ports and airports, road and rail as a whole,” he added.
According to Østergaard, economic trends ranging from globalization to containerization will see traffic on Danish roads double by 2030.
“These challenges are affecting the whole transport chain – both sea and land transport,” said Østergaard, who explained that the hauliers which his organization mainly represents, have suffered a 20% cut in productivity due to road congestion.
“If we want to be the leading transport hub in northern Europe, we want the government to take action in its new four-year term,” said Østergaard.
Industry players say a lack of funding and 'incoherent' transport policies could undermine growth.
“All the good work of the port, efficiency and all, will be made useless by congested roads,” said a shipping superintendent to Portworld today.
According to Erik Østergaard, head of the Danish Transport and Logistics group, Denmark's geographical position gives Copenhagen a unique opportunity to be a logistical gateway to Scandinavia, the Baltic and Russia.
“If you look at Singapore, it has succeeded in exploiting its location as a hub for the rest of Asia. We also have an opportunity to raise our profile,” said Østergaard.
The infrastructure commission is due to report its initial recommendations to the government in January.
The commission has, among other things, called for a more focus on Denmark's transport gateways including tackling Copenhagen's traffic bottlenecks and the better use of existing capacity along with the building of new roads.
“We are lagging behind in terms of investment and we face real problems on roads if we do not address this issue,” said Østergaard.
“It is important (that) we pay more attention to sectoral thinking and look at the needs of ports and airports, road and rail as a whole,” he added.
According to Østergaard, economic trends ranging from globalization to containerization will see traffic on Danish roads double by 2030.
“These challenges are affecting the whole transport chain – both sea and land transport,” said Østergaard, who explained that the hauliers which his organization mainly represents, have suffered a 20% cut in productivity due to road congestion.
“If we want to be the leading transport hub in northern Europe, we want the government to take action in its new four-year term,” said Østergaard.