Containerization and the decline of the upstream urban port in Europe

This paper examines the impact of containerization on upstream urban ports in Europe, briefly discusses the changing socio-economic role of such ports,and considers whether the few remaining upstream urban ports currently still attracting large containerships can continue to do so in the long-term. Citing the trend towards larger containerships, the analysis concludes by offering the view that continued investment in container-handling infrastructure within traditional upstream urban ports may be a flawed policy. Such ports are becoming outmoded (for the largest containerships), superseded by more appropriate custom-built infrastructure at coastal locations.     

The Application of Roller Rigs to Railway Vehicle Dynamics

Roller rigs have been built world-wide to research into the dynamics of railway vehicles and they have particularly been applied to the development of high-speed trains. This survey takes into consideration both full scale as well as small scale model roller rigs. Besides performance, most important experimental work and the emphasis of application, the scaling strategies of model test rigs and the differences involved in roller rig experiments are treated. Suggestions for potential future uses and developments are also given for this tool which is useful for demonstration and analysis of railway vehicle dynamic behaviour.     

Maritime policy in Scotland

This paper begins by defining the meaning of the term 'maritime policy'. Since devolution in the UK, the opening of the new Scottish parliament in 1998 and the creation of the Scottish Executive, little effort has been made to establish a distinct maritime policy for Scotland. As was evident prior to devolution, the primary emphasis from any maritime policy perspective has continued to be a focus on lifeline island ferry services. This ignores significant developments in several other key maritime transport sectors, and this paper provides examples of areas that require some form of policy response, including intra-European short sea shipping, UK coastal shipping, urban/river transport and global container shipping. Long-standing institutional bias against maritime transport coupled with subsidy devoted almost entirely to land transport systems has resulted in a quite distorted marketplace. This suggests that a maritime policy is now imperative if maritime transport is to play a more significant role in the overall transport system. Further discussion centres on the need to consider, from a Scottish policy perspective, the role of various state-sponsored maritime service providers and how these bodies might fit better within evolving policy. The conclusion is that formulation of a maritime policy by the Scottish Executive is overdue and that a degree of restructuring of transport responsibilities within the Executive, combined with adequate resource allocation towards the maritime industry, will be necessary in order that market distortions can be overcome, so enabling Scotland to fully exploit the competitive and environmental advantages that maritime transport can provide.     

The Japan coastal ferry system

This paper provides analysis of the medium- and long-distance ferry sectors in Japan. Data has been obtained from semi-structured interviews with ferry operators, port authorities, government officials and from secondary sources. The Japanese ferry industry is assessed on the basis of a range of criteria, including routes and operators, traffic flows, vessels, ports and modal competition. Today, approximately one in every four trucks travelling over distances in excess of 100km in Japan are carried by ferry, and this notwithstanding the alternative of an expanding expressway system. There are clearly lessons here for other countries with long coastlines and congested highways. Many ferry operators in Japan are nevertheless unable to make a profit and clearly there will have to be action taken to secure the future of the industry in the face of high crew costs and competition from low-cost trucking. A potential future opportunity may exist for Japanese ferry lines to extend services to other parts of Asia. Given the success of the European ferry sector as a result of the Single European Market, and pending continued economic cooperation in Asia, potential for any expansion of ferry links between Japan and its near neighbours needs to be evaluated.