Date: 11th June 2010

SEStran has won EU financial backing, for a range of transportation projects spanning the North Sea.

 

So far, three projects have been granted a total of £902,000 of match funding over three years through the Interreg initiative of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which aims to stimulate European interregional cooperation.

 

• Connecting Food Port Regions : Aims to promote better levels of accessibility and connectivity for food products across the North Sea region and beyond. There is a synergy with this proposal and the work already undertaken for the Dryport project and two of the other partners in this project are Gothenberg Region and the province of West Flanders. The other partners will be the Ports of Kristiansund, Esbjerg, Bremerhaven and Haven Gateway.
• Lo-Pinod (Logistics Optimisation for Ports Intermodality: Networks, Opportunities, Developments) : Aims to revitalise ports that were underutilised. The project also contains a proposal to trial the movement of freight by barge in the Forth Estuary qand includes partners from the ports of Sheerness, Ostend, Harlingen, Bergen, Bodo, Drammen and Emden.
• I-Transfer (Innovative Transport Solutions for Fjords, Estuaries and Rivers) :  Which aims to improve local ferry services through advanced operational concepts and innovative technologies. It has particular relevance with the proposed hovercraft ferry crossing on the Forth and the bid has been developed with Stagecoach. Partners in this project include Gravesham, Bremerhaven and Harlingen.

SEStran Chair, Cllr Russell Imrie said:

 

“In the absence of direct government funding; and particularly during a period of such financial austerity, it is our duty to seek out new sources of revenue, so that we can meet the objectives laid down of our Regional Transport Strategy (RTS)”.

 

“The EU is proving to be a great source of backing and support for a range of projects, which have the potential to secure the continued prosperity of South East Scotland, For example, the I-Transfer project will enable us to build on the successful  Forth hovercraft shuttle  trial, carried out in partnership with Stagecoach.”

 

 Charles Hammond, Group Chief Executive of Forth Ports, added:  

"The movement of freight by barge has the potential to take significant numbers of trucks off the road and so deliver wide ranging environmental benefits. The trial has an important role to play in further underlining the benefits that businesses can realise and we are pleased it has won ERDF funding and we look forward to giving it our full support." 

A Stagecoach Group spokesman said:  

"We welcome the news of our successful joint application with SEStran for EU match funding. It is a further positive step forward in supporting the business case for the hovercraft and making a cross-Forth link a reality. We are continuing to progress with Fife Council and City of Edinburgh Council the planning applications associated with the proposals, which are key milestones in getting a service on the water."

ENDS

SEStran - South East of Scotland Transport Partnership - is one of seven new Statutory Regional Transport Partnerships (RTP) created by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 and is a partnership of eight local councils covering the Borders, Clackmannanshire, East Lothian Midlothian and West Lothian, Edinburgh, Falkirk and Fife.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Dougal, SEStran Communications Officer

T: 0131-524-5161

M: 07889-010-291

E: Andrew.dougal@sestran.gov.uk

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