Seaports are increasingly confronted with congestion issues mainly in relation to their hinterland transportation needs. One and another is due to a growing lack of sufficient surface transport capacity. The creation of new ways of transportation could be considered part of the solution. Especially UTT (Underground Tubular Transport) deserves full attention, because it corresponds maximally to the principal objectives of the forthcoming new EU transport policy. Moreover today transport capacity extension on the surface very often is affected by limitations in speed and size as a function of density of population and the existence of biotopes. Therefore the establishment of new (underground) modes of transport could become of great help especially in and around (port) towns. Comparison of different modes of transport shows that tubular transport ranks highest both in terms of socioeconomic characteristics and various operational conditions. However, feasibility of any new transport mode depends upon cost recovering ultimately. An in-depth study of the situation in Antwerp in comparison to Rotterdam therefore has been performed in order to acquire a correct understanding of technical, economical and commercial consequences of the proposed solution, viz. the tri-modal so-called UCM system. Simultaneously UCM also contains an interesting feature by diminishing the congestion of road transport. Finally it is demonstrated that in addition UCM incorporates some valuable advantages, such as optimal distribution of containers, optimal transit times, and reliability of the operations given total absence of external impact and very low energy consumption and maintenance costs. Whether these potential advantages are “payable” or not has been dealt with in the business case carried out by PWC (2009). The overall conclusion is that provided the evolution and impact of congestion and waiting times on surface roads with respect to truck tariffs becomes a substantial management criterion, application in due time of the UCM-system in the port of Antwerp will alleviate traffic congestion in and around the port.
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