The UK Land Bridge is a transport route that connects Ireland with Continental Europe through the United Kingdom and extends from Dublin to Calais.[1]
History
editThe UK Land Bridge has provided an open trade route for roll on roll off (RoRo) goods from the UK to Ireland and Ireland to the European mainland since 1992 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, with this being expended in 2007 with the signing of the Lisbon Treaty.[2]
After Brexit the Irish government attempted to create new routes that bypass the UK Land Bridge with an example being a ferry services from Dublin to Calais.[3]
In 2020 the UK acceded to the EU Common Transit agreement which enable trade to operate more freely and preserved the U.K land bridge.[4][5]
Route
editThe Route begins in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland and crosses several point within the United Kingdom including Chester, Crewe, Newcastle, Birmingham, Coventry, Northampton, Milton Keyes, St Albans, Chatham, Maidstone and Folkestone where goods traffic will use the Channel Tunnel to Calais.[6]
In 2018 the Irish Marine Development Office estimated that there were around 150,000 truck crossings between the Republic of Ireland and the EU carrying trade estimate to be around €18.2bn.[5]
References
edit- ^ Mac Domhnaill, Ciaran. "All at sea? Brexit, shipping, and the UK land-bridge" (PDF). University of St Andrews.
- ^ Gleeson, Kieran (2019-11-07). "UK To Keep The Land Bridge Open - Custran". Retrieved 2024-07-07.
- ^ "Ireland seeks its own 'landbridge' to continental EU". www.euractiv.com. 2021-01-07. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
- ^ "UK Land Bridge – Transit – Brexit – An Irish Guide". brexitlegal.ie. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
- ^ a b "Trade: the UK landbridge". Institute for Government. 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ "Analysis of the impact of Brexit on logistics and supply chain activities in the UK – "Teething Problems" or permanent impacts?". University of Westminster. September 2021.