The NRLA in the European context
The NRLA in Europe:
Its central location makes Switzerland an important hub for European rail transport. Italy’s ports, the key economic regions of Lombardy and Piedmont and industries in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and as far as Scandinavia and the UK require efficient, reliable transport connections.
Around 100 million tonnes of freight cross the Alps each year and the volume keeps rising. A third of this freight crosses Switzerland. The construction of the NRLA lays the foundations for transferring as much of this traffic as possible from road to rail.
It is a policy that is gaining ever wider acceptance in other European countries. Thus, the NRLA concept forms part of the 1999 Land Transport Agreement between Switzerland and the EU. The Lötschberg and Gotthard transit axes also constitute the most important part of the European freight corridor between Rotterdam and Milan/Genoa.
Further information:
» The NRLA in the European context
» NRLA partners at the Lötschberg
» Key data
Rotterdam – Genoa corridor
