Feasibility study of an inland waterway container terminal in business park De Mars, Zutphen

Abstract

Zutphen is a city in the Netherlands, located along the IJssel River and the nautical access of the Twentekanaal. Despite its beneficial location, Zutphen barely uses the inland waterways for freight transport. This lead to the objective of this thesis: To provide insight how a viable inland waterway terminal be realized in Zutphen’s business park De Mars to improve its freight connection.
After analysing the regional and local infrastructure and transport flows, it was found that the best opportunities arise for the development of an intermodal inland waterway transport (IWT) connection, including an inland container terminal in Zutphen. A reliable intermodal transport service can only be realized if the terminal operator has access to a sufficient and constant flow of cargo volumes to be transported. Cargo can only be attracted if shippers are willing to make a modal change.

A framework consisting of several analyses was presented to assess the feasibility of an inland container terminal in Zutphen. Based on input from these analyses, three technical designs of proposed terminal solutions were worked out. A terminal solution is considered to be feasible if a business can be found for a private investor. For each of these alternatives, a financial assessment was worked out to determine whether a business case can be found. Based on the results of the financial assessment, a recommendation is given to the municipality.