Sustainable intermodal transport via dry ports- Importance of directional development

Journal article, 2013

As container transport volumes continue to grow, the sea flow generates almost proportional inland flow; the links with hinterland will become critical factors for the seaports functionality. Intermodal transport with dry ports could be a potential solution for seaport terminal congestion as well as for better seaport inland access that might be based on short haul rail. Intermodal transport is generally considered to be viable on markets with larger flows or longer distances; however, due to cost of congestion, growing environmental constraints, but also due to competition between seaports, the break-even distance for inland intermodal transport could be very market dependent. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to analyse effects of directional development of dry ports on sustainability of intermodal transport based on a short haul rail. Some of the studied ports in Australia and New Zealand, with their close intermodal terminals based on Outside-In model; show feasibility of intermodal transport with shorter break-even distances.