EU aims to prepare transport infrastructure for Middle Corridor expansion

The European Union expects its transport infrastructure to be ready for the planned expansion of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, Middle Corridor) by 2030.

Report's European bureau informs that Maja Bakran Marcich, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), said this.

At the same time, she acknowledged that bottlenecks remain and that significant investment is still needed. Marcich stressed that meeting the development goals of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is not only a political priority but also a legal obligation for the EU.

"The short answer is yes," she said when asked whether the European Union was ready for increased cargo flows along the Middle Corridor. However, she admitted that "a significant amount of work remains to be done."

The European Commission representative noted that unprecedented amounts of financing are currently being mobilized through various EU budget instruments. According to her, several major infrastructure projects are expected to be implemented in the coming years, including the Lyon-Turin, Brenner and Fehmarn Belt tunnels, the Trans-Baltic motorway and others.

However, she emphasized that Europe's readiness to handle new transport flows depends not only on infrastructure. The TEN-T network must function as a single integrated system based on common standards, digitalization, safety requirements and interoperability of transport systems.

Speaking about the key entry points of the Middle Corridor in Southeast Europe, the DG MOVE representative described the recent signing of a memorandum between Greece, Bulgaria and Romania on the development of a strategic North-South transport corridor as encouraging.

She concluded that maintaining the current pace of modernization would allow the TEN-T network to become a "reliable European backbone" for the TITR and help fully unlock its strategic and economic potential.