Baseline Situation & Challenges

With around 90 million inhabitants, the Danube region is of particular economic interest due to its size alone. The Danube waterway plays an important role here as a mode of transport for the supply of raw materials, coated and finished products as well as for the disposal of used materials and waste. However, the transport potential of environmentally friendly Danube navigation is not sufficiently utilised and the modal split share of Danube navigation is in need of improvement. 
An enhanced offer of terminals and a denser network of transhipment facilities on the Danube are necessary in order to integrate navigation into multimodal transport chains as easy and economic as possible. Awareness raising is also an important prerequisite for a growing share of Danube navigation in multimodal logistics chains. Lack of transparency in the market and too few known success stories are some of the reasons for the current low multimodal market share.

Planned Activities

  • Networking supply and demand through business-to-business platforms, targeted provision of information, advice and support for (potential) customers of Danube navigation, trade fairs and opening up new markets for inland navigation
  • Initiatives to improve the quantity and quality of multimodal transhipment possibilities, by improving the equipment of inland ports and their terminals, or through corresponding support programmes, as well as through requirements for the connection of production sites to rail and inland waterways
  • Initiatives for the use of environmentally friendly technologies in inland ports - e.g. as multimodal hubs for alternative fuels and shore-side electricity
  • Address pilot projects in the area of logistics promotion, investment promotion programme for combined transport as well as other promotion programmes at national and European level, especially where the transport mode advantage of inland navigation can be increased
  • Research, technology and innovation funding for projects that research and develop new or improved products, processes, services or business models
  • Use of real-world development environments, such as mobility laboratories that bring mobility innovations into practice, test environments and facilities that enable simulations, tests and demonstrations, as well as the testing of innovations in regulatory innovation spaces
  • Promote cost transparency in the transport system in order to increase the competitiveness of inland navigation
  • Develop models for low-water insurance in consultation with the shipping industry
  • Support initiatives to attract shipping-related companies along the Austrian stretch of the Danube