Governance of Transport Corridors in OIC Member States:
Challenges, Cases and Policy Lessons
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3 Practices of Transport Corridors Governance in the World
This section presents international practices of transport corridor governance. The Trans-European
transport network (TEN-T) and the South-east Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) are analysed,
according to the structure of the conceptual framework, as presented in the previous chapter.
3.1 Trans-European Transport network (TEN-T)
The most integrated corridors in terms of their governance are found in Europe. The corridors are part
of European Union’s (EU) transport policy called the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). In
contrast to most other transport corridors around the world, the EU as a platform of political
cooperation preceded the birth of TEN-T. Although the predecessor of the EU was already established
in 1951, it was not until the 1990s that its member states agreed upon developing a common transport
policy. Since then, the objectives of TEN-T have been adjusted multiple times, and it took until 2013
that the notion of transport corridor has been formally adopted in EU’s transport policy approach.
TEN-T is established to connect Europe’s most important transport nodes and to ensure a smooth
function of the transport system. The purpose of TEN-T is to develop an EU-wide network of railway
lines, roads, shipping routes, ports, airports and rail-road terminals. Summarized by the European
Commission:
The ultimate objective of TEN-T is to close gaps, remove bottlenecks and eliminate technical barriers
that exist between the transport networks of EU Member States, strengthening the social, economic and
territorial cohesion of the Union and contributing to the creation of a single European transport area.
The policy seeks to achieve this aim through the construction of new physical infrastructures; the
adoption of innovative digital technologies, alternative fuels and universal standards; and the
modernizing and upgrading of existing infrastructures and platforms.9
The nine corridors as defined by the EU only refer to one half of TEN-T, whereas the other half refers
to an EUwide transport network. The concept of corridors is used by the EU to identify transport nodes
that are deemed most important for the region, and hence can be regarded as a way of prioritizing
certain transport infrastructure above others. While corridors may play a smaller role in TEN-T
compared to other international transport organizations, it is nevertheless valuable to review TEN-T
in detail, as it is the governance of transport between nations that is at stake here rather than the
content of the transport policy.
3.1.1 Corridor objectives and political support
Objectives of transport corridors and main drivers
TEN-T consists of two layers, the Comprehensive Network and the Core Network. The comprehensive
network constitutes a grid of transport nodes and links covering all of EU’s territory. The network is
used as a guideline to create new links and upgrade existing ones. If a national or local authority
believes its project contributes to the development of the comprehensive network as defined by the
EU, it is possible to request European Funds. The development of the comprehensive network is
expected to be finished in 2050. The second layer, the Core Network, focuses on the priority projects
selected by the EU. The priority projects are further defined into nine multimodal transport corridors
and two horizontal priorities, the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS, regarding
the interoperability of railway systems) and the Motorways of the Sea (MoS, regarding maritime
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