Freight hubs and nodes - structure and effectiveness

Every four years, the Norwegian transport authorities present a National Plan for transport infrastructure. In this context, the working group for efficient freight hubs and nodes has proposed a set of case studies to assess the possibilities of transferring freight from road to sea or rail. The analysis is based on a national freight transport model. Moreover, case examples under several scenarios have been analysed as a complement to the model runs. The case assessment reveals that establishing new rail services connecting southeast Norway to Gothenburg and Rotterdam has the potential of shifting goods from road to rail. Potential freight volumes are large enough to establish such rail services, particularly for imports and in relation to Rotterdam and southern Sweden. The case analyses also show that the proposed rail services would be competitive to road freight also in terms of cost to customers. Our assessment also shows that the current port structure around the Oslofjord is better suited than alternative port solutions, with respect to costs as well as to potential sea transport expansion.