Key findings from NSB CoRe regional workshop Accessibility needs along and beyond the North Sea-Baltic corridor Kaunas, Lithuania, February 8, 2018 The Workshop on Accessibility needs along and beyond the North Sea-Baltic corridor was organised in Kaunas, Lithuania, on 08.02.2018. 24 stakeholders from Poland and Lithuania participated. In the workshop discussions were held regarding the following topics: Accessibility as a driver for regional development; Stakeholders to involve in NSB CoRe Network Development; Identification of 2nd level connections; Needs and Bottlenecks of the NSB CoRe Corridor. During the first part of discussion three questions were rised: participants were asked to give an opinion how do they see accessibility along / beyond / on the NSB corridor in 2050, how do they see Lithuania and Poland on the global transport map in 2050 and how improved accessibility would be beneficial for the regional development? The following word cloud illustrates the keywords mentioned in this discussion. Afterwards participants were asked to assess the stakeholders maps for Poland and Lithuania that have been elaborated as part of the spatial vision elaboration. It was mentioned, that the Lithuanian National Road Carriers Association LINAVA should be added to the list of stakeholders, and exclude the bus stations from
the Stakeholders list, since they are already in LINAVA. Potentially, Kaunas and Palanga airports should be included. The importance of media was highlighted, suggesting these should be added to the stakeholders. For Poland the TEN-T coordinators Catherine Trautmann (North Sea-Baltic) and Kurt Bodewig (Baltic Adriatic) should be added to the list of stakeholders. The name of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction has changed at the beginning of 2018 into Ministry of Infrastructure. The City of Suwałki should be added, Warsaw Modlin airport, although it is not a node of TEN-T network, should be added to the list of stakeholders (only 35 km to the NSB corridor, about 3 mln passengers every year). Also, the railway companies and intermodal operators should be added to the list of stakeholders: freight transport: PKP Cargo, DB Cargo Polska, Lotos Kolej, PKP LHS, CTL Logistics, passenger transport: Przewozy Regionalne, Koleje Mazowieckie, PKP Intercity, PKP SKM, SKM Warszawa, Koleje Wielkopolskie, WKD. Also, the Rail Freight Corridor North-Sea Baltic should be added to the list of stakeholders. Identification of 2nd level connections In Lithuania there were following 2 nd level nodes identified: Šiauliai, Palanga, Klaipėda, Rukla and two cities from Latvia: Daugavpils and Liepaja. The road from Kaunas to Klaipėda was identified as the 1 st level connection because this route is a vital for Lithuanian transportation, as it connects the center of the country with Klaipėda sea port. The 1 st level connection is also the route Šiauliai Panevėžys, connecting two big cities. Rukla and Šiauliai were chosen as important 2 nd level connections because of national defense. The NSB corridor should be easily reached from these two points. If we consider Kaunas-Klaipėda connection as the 1 st level connection so the 2 nd level connection would be Palanga, which is a popular resort. Cross-border 2 nd level connections should be Klaipėda-Liepaja, Vilnius-Daugavpils. Vilnius Bialystok 2 nd level connection was discussed a lot. This connection is needed, but there is no possibility to have a straight route there without crossing Belarus. Workshop material on 2nd level connections in Lithuania:
In Poland 2nd level nodes that should be added are Piła, Leszno, Inowrocław, Toruń, Iława, Piotrków Trybunalski, Ciechanów, Radom, Siedlce, Bielsk Podlaski. Also, the port in Szczecin should be added. The airports in Szymany, Modlin, Radom and Baranów (for Baranów there are only plans for international hub in 2027) should be added. There are following important road connections: S11 sections between Poznan and Pila and between Poznan and Ostrów Wlkp (close to Kalisz); S10 Wloclawek, Plock, Plonsk (north to Warszawa); S16 linking Grudziądz with Olsztyn and Elk (NSB Core); S8/S19/S61 sections in Podlaskie (S8/S19 north of Bialystok); A2 between Minsk Mazowiecki (east to Warsaw) and Siedlce (for existing plans for roads see also http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=345003). There are following important Railway connections: Wrocław Główny Szczecin Główny; PKP rail line 273 there were plans for upgrading, still very slow freight line linking port of Szczecin with Wroclaw and the rest of the south of Poland; Łomża Grajewo and Łomża NSB railway line between Warsaw and Bialystok; today no railway line connecting Łomża with NSB CoRe; Włocławek Płock Warszawa; today there is no railway line between Płock and Warszawa (only through Kutno). Workshop material on 2nd level connections in Poland:
Institutional aspects Infrastructure Institutional aspects Local, regional and national level needs and bottlenecks As part of the spatial vision elaboration process multiple needs and bottlenecks along the NSB CoRe corridor were identified. Workshop participants were asked to evaluate and prioritize these needs. Pre-identified Local, Regional and National level Needs and Bottlenecks - Lithuania 1. Need to develop passenger rail connection Riga Siauliai, Vilnius-Daugavpils, Tartu-Riga 2. Need to develop passenger train connection Warsaw Vilnius 3. Need for interoperability with ports having different gauge widths 4. Need to ensure interoperability with 2 nd level networks 5. Reduce urban sprawl negative effects around main urban nodes as larger population will concentrate around agglomeration 6. Need to serve local interests and create value of NSB CoRe for territories and small settlements in between main nodal points e.g. regional stations, frequent intersections, good accessibility also to depopulated areas 7. Bottleneck road between Panevėžys-Riga (150 km) 8. Bottleneck on railway line between Kaunas-PL border, need to reconstruct (straighten) 9. Need to develop Šiauliai- Panevėžys as dual metropolitan centre to benefit more from the Rail Baltica 10. Develop intermodal passenger transport nodes in Kaunas and Vilnius and ensure easy way to change mode of transportation 11. Need to develop connections from urban nodes to 2 nd level cities 12. Development of new logistic centres and multimodal service points for cargo During the workshop it was noted that need to connect Šiauliai and Panevėžys as dual metropolitan center should be changed to connect Šiauliai and Panevėžys as functional area, since it would not be possible to create metropolitan center from two cities which are facing decrease in population. Need to Develop intermodal passenger transport from Kaunas and Vilnius to ensure easy way to change mode of transportation should include Klaipėda. Development of new logistic centers and multimodal service points of cargo it was noted to focus first on development of existing centers, their automation. It was stated, that the most important bottleneck is connection Vilnius Warsaw. In addition, it was noted, that there was need to develop intermodal passenger transport Klaipėda-Kaunas-Vilnius; Road Panevėžys Riga. Pre-identified Local, Regional and National level Needs and Bottlenecks - Poland 1. Need to develop passenger train connection Warsaw Vilnius 2. Need to ensure interoperability with 2 nd level networks 3. Reduce urban sprawl negative effects around main urban nodes as larger population will concentrate around agglomeration 4. Need to serve local interests and create value of NSB CoRe for territories and small settlements in between main nodal points e.g. regional stations, frequent intersections, good accessibility also to depopulated areas
Infrastructure 5. Need to develop DK8 Augustow-Bialystok (controversial, Natura 2000) 6. Need to develop Bialystok as intermodal hub if RB is built and Belarus opens for more trade with the west 7. Need to reconstruct Eastern Main Line railway Bialystok-Lublin-Rzeszow as a complementary corridor to NSB CoRe 8. Elk Tricity through Masuria link is a bottleneck (rail?) 9. Need to develop Warsaw bypass dedicated to heavy goods vehicles 10. Need to develop S10 expressway linking Wloclawek and Plock with Warsaw 11. Need to strengthen Lodz as a hub for the New Silk Road 12. Need to build high-speed rail line Poznan-Kalisz-Lodz-Warsaw 13. Bottlenecks Lodz, Lodz-Wroclaw, Warsaw node, Poznan (rail?) 14. Rail bottlenecks: Berlin Wroclaw, Berlin Szczecin 15. Need to develop connections from urban nodes to 2 nd level cities 16. Development of new logistic centres and multimodal service points for cargo 17. Develop intermodal passenger transport nodes and ensure easy way to change mode of transportation Regarding Poland, the most important needs were pointed out: - Need to develop Warsaw bypass dedicated to heavy good vehicles (today a lot of HGV, in particular at night, go very close to the city of Warsaw and additional bypass is needed dedicated to freight traffic); - Need to develop passenger train connection Warsaw-Vilnius; - Rail-road terminals and connections to 2 nd level cities. It was agreed, that it is important to improve the public transport within the agglomeration areas. Information was prepared by Liene Stikane, Spatial planner for NSB CoRe at VASAB Secretariat (liene.stikane@vasab.org) VASAB (Vision and Strategies around the Baltic Sea) is co-operation of Ministers responsible for spatial planning and development in 11 countries of the Baltic Sea Region. In NSB CoRe project VASAB Secretariat is responsible for the Work Package 4 Spatial planning for NSB CoRe Network Development.