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TGSG: The transport geography study group of the institute of British geographers
Journal
of Tramporf
Geography
Vol 3, No. I, pp. 8142. 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. 0966923/95 $10.00 + 0.00
TGSG: The Transport Geography Study Group of the Institute of British Geographers Besides furthering international links with other transport geographers, one of the major aims of the TGSG is informing its British and foreign membership of current developments
Figure 1 Links receiving
European
of common interest. The opening of the Channel Tunnel has excited many colleagues about European transport issues (Gibb 1994) and it is felt that news from Brussels, the European
acting capital, is of great interest to TGSG members. Dr Jacques Charlier, Professor and NFRS Research Associate at the Institute of Geography at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve,
Union Funding
Brenner axis: a high-speed and intermodal railway link between south-east Germany and north-east Italy through western Austria. TGV ParislLondon-Brussels-Amsterdam/Cologne: sections of this high-speed railway subsystem will be partly financed, including between London and the already built Channel tunnel. TGV South: two high-speed railway lines (built at 1.435 m standard gauge) will connect Madrid with the French border; intermodal traffic should use the southern one between France and Barcelona. TGV East: a high-speed line between Paris and Eastern France, with branches to Luxembourg and Germany, and serving also northern Switzerland. Betuwe line: a railway line designed for goods traffic between the port of Rotterdam and its German hinterland. TGV Alpes: a railway line between Lyons and Turin with a 55 km long base tunnel under mount Cenis, both for high-speed passenger trains and intermodal traffic (including probably heavy vehicles on platforms, as for the Channel tunnel). Motorways in Greece: transformation of some national main roads into motorways and connection of this network with the Balkan countries. Lisbon-Valladolid motorway: to connect Portugal and Spain, and for traffic between Portugal and France. Intermodal transport in Ireland: in order to connect with the British networks. Malpensa airport: better road and new rail connection for this under-used intercontinental airport serving northern Italy. Oresund bridge: to connect Denmark with Sweden and Norway, as a symmetric combined bridge-tunnel is being built across the Great Belt.
I:1 (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) i:q
81
TGSG
Belgium, is the Group’s corresponding Western European member with responsibility for keeping TGSG members abreast of developments in that region. In this issue, he reports on the so-called ‘Jacques Delors’ eleven great works’, aimed at filling some of the missing links in Europe’s international transport network.
Eleven missing links to be partly funded by the European Union Despite being one of the most developed parts of the world, Europe still features a number of national and international missing links which hinder transport both within the European Union and with its neighbours. After much political bargaining, it was agreed in mid-1994 that the building of eleven missing links would
82
be partly funded on European budgets (see Figure I). This, it was argued, would strengthen the cohesion of the European Union, which at the time consisted of 12 member states. However, following the admission of Austria, Finland, and Sweden to the European Union in January 1995, there is no doubt that more missing links will be identified and that another series of projects will be proposed to meet the needs of the new members. It should also be remembered that, whereas Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, it is highly involved in the process of European transport integration through its policy of building new railway tunnels for intermodal transport traffic. These issues, together with related topics, have generated considerable research throughout Western Europe.
The international symposium to be held at Lille on 8 and 9 June 1995, entitled ‘Large Scale Transport Infrastructures and the Regions’, will discuss many of the issues raised by the opening of the Channel Tunnel. The symposium, which is organized by GRRT (National Consortium for Transport Research in Nord-Pas-deCalais) and INRETS (National Institute for Research in Transport and Society) hopes to bring together researchers, practitioners and academics from across the European Union. Jacques Charlier TGSG Western European Corresponding Member
Reference Gibb, R (ed) (1994) The Channel Tunnel: Geographical Perspective Wiley, Chichester
A
of Tramporf
Geography
Vol 3, No. I, pp. 8142. 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. 0966923/95 $10.00 + 0.00
TGSG: The Transport Geography Study Group of the Institute of British Geographers Besides furthering international links with other transport geographers, one of the major aims of the TGSG is informing its British and foreign membership of current developments
Figure 1 Links receiving
European
of common interest. The opening of the Channel Tunnel has excited many colleagues about European transport issues (Gibb 1994) and it is felt that news from Brussels, the European
acting capital, is of great interest to TGSG members. Dr Jacques Charlier, Professor and NFRS Research Associate at the Institute of Geography at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve,
Union Funding
Brenner axis: a high-speed and intermodal railway link between south-east Germany and north-east Italy through western Austria. TGV ParislLondon-Brussels-Amsterdam/Cologne: sections of this high-speed railway subsystem will be partly financed, including between London and the already built Channel tunnel. TGV South: two high-speed railway lines (built at 1.435 m standard gauge) will connect Madrid with the French border; intermodal traffic should use the southern one between France and Barcelona. TGV East: a high-speed line between Paris and Eastern France, with branches to Luxembourg and Germany, and serving also northern Switzerland. Betuwe line: a railway line designed for goods traffic between the port of Rotterdam and its German hinterland. TGV Alpes: a railway line between Lyons and Turin with a 55 km long base tunnel under mount Cenis, both for high-speed passenger trains and intermodal traffic (including probably heavy vehicles on platforms, as for the Channel tunnel). Motorways in Greece: transformation of some national main roads into motorways and connection of this network with the Balkan countries. Lisbon-Valladolid motorway: to connect Portugal and Spain, and for traffic between Portugal and France. Intermodal transport in Ireland: in order to connect with the British networks. Malpensa airport: better road and new rail connection for this under-used intercontinental airport serving northern Italy. Oresund bridge: to connect Denmark with Sweden and Norway, as a symmetric combined bridge-tunnel is being built across the Great Belt.
I:1 (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) i:q
81
TGSG
Belgium, is the Group’s corresponding Western European member with responsibility for keeping TGSG members abreast of developments in that region. In this issue, he reports on the so-called ‘Jacques Delors’ eleven great works’, aimed at filling some of the missing links in Europe’s international transport network.
Eleven missing links to be partly funded by the European Union Despite being one of the most developed parts of the world, Europe still features a number of national and international missing links which hinder transport both within the European Union and with its neighbours. After much political bargaining, it was agreed in mid-1994 that the building of eleven missing links would
82
be partly funded on European budgets (see Figure I). This, it was argued, would strengthen the cohesion of the European Union, which at the time consisted of 12 member states. However, following the admission of Austria, Finland, and Sweden to the European Union in January 1995, there is no doubt that more missing links will be identified and that another series of projects will be proposed to meet the needs of the new members. It should also be remembered that, whereas Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, it is highly involved in the process of European transport integration through its policy of building new railway tunnels for intermodal transport traffic. These issues, together with related topics, have generated considerable research throughout Western Europe.
The international symposium to be held at Lille on 8 and 9 June 1995, entitled ‘Large Scale Transport Infrastructures and the Regions’, will discuss many of the issues raised by the opening of the Channel Tunnel. The symposium, which is organized by GRRT (National Consortium for Transport Research in Nord-Pas-deCalais) and INRETS (National Institute for Research in Transport and Society) hopes to bring together researchers, practitioners and academics from across the European Union. Jacques Charlier TGSG Western European Corresponding Member
Reference Gibb, R (ed) (1994) The Channel Tunnel: Geographical Perspective Wiley, Chichester
A