2. Freight traffic on inland waterways

GERMANY – NORTH (IN MIO. T)

Source: Generaldirektion Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt
* MoP: mineral oil products

Elbe

Elbe-Seitenkanal

Weser

Mittellandkanal

GERMANY – SOUTH (IN MIO. T)

Source: Generaldirektion Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt
* MoP: mineral oil products

Neckar

Main

Donau

Main-Donau-Kanal

GERMANY – EAST (IN MIO. T)

Source: Generaldirektion Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt
* MoP: mineral oil products

Untere Havel

Rothenseer-Verbindungskanal

Spree-Oder-Wasserstrasse

Havel-Oder-Wasserstrasse

Inland waterways in Belgium

• All Belgian inland waterways with at least one million tonnes of goods traffic were taken into account and subdivided into two major regions: Flanders and Wallonia.
• A typical feature of IWW goods transport in Belgium is the high share of sand, stones and building materials. On the river Meuse (Maas), for example, more than 6 million tonnes of these raw materials are transported each year. On the Haut Escaut (Upper Schelde), which runs from South to North (and is called Boven Schelde in Flanders), the volume of sand, stones and building materials transported each year is around 3 million tonnes.
• In the northern part of Belgium (Flanders), the Albertkanaal is the most important inland waterway with an annual volume of almost 40 million tonnes of cargo. The Zeekanaal Brussel-Schelde is also rather important, as it represents the northern segment of a central north-south waterway axis, the so-called ABC axis, linking Antwerp to Brussels and Charleroi. The southern segment of this axis appears as the Canal Charleroi-Bruxelles within the data for Wallonia.

FLANDERS – TOTAL IWW GOODS TRANSPORT PER RIVER AND CANAL (IN MIO. T)

Source: De Vlaamse Waterweg

• The following figure shows that sands, stones and building materials represent by far the largest goods segment in Flanders. Most goods segments witnessed a positive trend in the years 2016-2018, with the product group “all other products” showing the strongest increase.
• For the Flemish waterways, transport statistics by type of goods are only available for the entire network of Flemish waterways, while the corresponding data for Wallonia are available for each particular waterway.

FLANDERS – INLAND WATERWAY GOODS TRANSPORT PER GOODS SEGMENT*

Source: De Vlaamse Waterweg
* Data for chemicals and fertilizers were not available according to the same definition for the years before 2016.

• In Wallonia, the river Meuse (Maas) had a cargo volume of almost 12 million tonnes in 2018. The Haut Escaut (Upper Schelde) has slightly less cargo traffic (8.1 million tonnes) when it is flowing in Wallonia than when it is flowing in Flanders (where it is known as Boven Schelde and has 10 million tonnes of traffic). The overall evolution is however quite similar for both stretches of this river.

WALLONIA – GOODS TRANSPORT PER RIVER AND CANAL (IN MIO. T)*

Source: Direction générale opérationnelle de la mobilité et des voies hydrauliques
* Canal N-B-P = Canal Nimy-Blaton-Peronnes

• In the next figures, only the four largest goods segments are chosen for each inland waterway.

INLAND WATERWAYS IN SOUTHERN BELGIUM (WALLONIA) PER GOODS SEGMENT (IN MIO. T)*

Source: Direction générale opérationnelle de la mobilité et des voies hydrauliques
* MoP = Mineral oil Products

Meuse

Haut Escaut

Sambre

Canal Bruxelles-Charleroi

Inland waterways in France

• The French inland waterway network has four main regions: The Nord-Pas-de-Calais basin, the Seine basin, the Eastern basin (Moselle & canals of the Eastern basin), the Rhine basin and the Rhône-Saône basin. The Rhine figures were analysed in a separate section.
• With around 20 million tonnes of cargo traffic per year, the Seine basin is in first position when it comes to goods transport. Its main waterways are the rivers Seine, Oise, Marne and canals, such as the Canal du Nord which will be upgraded within the project of Canal Seine-Nord-Europe. The main product segment is sand, stones and building materials. The data show an increase in these materials since 2015.
• The Nord-Pas-de-Calais basin also contains many canals and those that link the seaports of Calais and Dunkerque with the hinterland are of significant importance. Data regarding the canalised rivers Escaut and Sambre, which flow towards Belgium, are found both in the sections on France and Belgium (Wallonia).
• The Eastern basin contains the French part of the Moselle as well as small canals (eastern Freycinet network): Canal de la Meuse, Canal de la Marne au Rhin, Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne, Canal des Vosges. On the French part of the Moselle river, agricultural products come in first place of all goods segments, and they are mainly transported downstream towards the Rhine.
• The Rhône-Saône basin contains the rivers Rhône and Saône and the canal linking the Rhône with the Rhine. This canal in its actual size is mainly used for touristic purposes and not for goods transport.

GOODS TRANSPORTED ON INLAND WATERWAYS IN FRANCE (IN MIO. T)*

Source: VNF

• The four largest goods segments for each French river basin are presented in the following figures.
• In 2018, there was an increase in the transport of agricultural products in all four major French waterway regions which can be explained by better harvest results compared to 2017. The transport of sands, stones, gravel and building materials increased in the Seine basin and in the Rhône-Saône, while it was quite stable in the Nord-Pasde-Calais basin and decreased somewhat in the North-East basin (Moselle & Canals in the East).

Source: VNF
* MoP: mineral oil products

Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Seine

Rhône-Saône

Moselle & Canals of the East