Overview
ABSTRACT
The transportation of goods is no longer the sole activity of the increasingly polyvalent inland waterway network, even though it remains its principal purpose. At present it is evident that the modernization of inland waterway transport is in constant progression. This article initially focuses on the present state of inland water transport. The main means of transport and the equipment currently in use are subsequently discussed. The presentation of the transport service and its development can be used in order to measure the extent of its the modernization. It very clearly confirms its place within the multimodal transportation chains, and plays an integral role in European projects carried out on the river system.
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Nicolas BRUTIN: Head of the Foresight, Studies and Statistics Division of Voies navigables de France
INTRODUCTION
Although essential, the waterway network's function as a means of communication covers only a fraction of the benefits it brings to the community. There are some twenty different functions, making the network highly versatile. Today, and in many cases, commercial navigation is no longer the major activity that justifies maintaining the network. For the record, these include hydroelectric power generation, water supply to large conurbations, river tourism, etc.
The fact remains, however, that the vocation of the waterway network remains focused on freight transport. Little known, this sector today offers the image of a dynamic face that year after year progresses both in absolute and relative terms. After a description of transport equipment, the presentation of the transport offer and its evolution allows us to measure the importance and depth of the modernization that river transport is undergoing, at a time when it is asserting its place in multimodal transport chains.
With a modern network in place at the dawn of the 20th century, thanks to Freycinet, France must now complete its network to be ready for the 21st century. Only then can we be reasonably optimistic about the development of river transport, which is one of Voies Navigables de France's core activities.
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