FAIRway works!

550 million tonnes of freight were moved on European inland waterways in 2018. Along the whole “Rhine-Danube” TEN-T core network corridor, the inland waterway transport performance accounted for 135 billion tonne-kilometres in 2018.

Despite its advantages compared to other transport modes, Inland Waterway Transport has seen a stable loss in market share mainly due to a lacking reliability of waterway infrastructure and existing bottlenecks. Shortcomings regarding infrastructure represent a severe threat to the success of waterway transport in the Danube corridor and all over Europe and need to be tackled to achieve the main European transport policy goals.

Objectives of the project

  • Reduce infrastructure quality gaps and improve efficiency – e.g. Iron Gate lock, improved fairway marking, high-quality mooring places;
  • Improve sustainability through fostering inland navigation
  • Increase capacity and reduce travel times for marking trips, offering shore side electricity
  • Foster benefits for users : quality and availability of mooring places, increased safety at locks, improved surveying information and improved fairway marking

FAIRway works!” clusters and implements the most mature waterway-related initiatives in the corridor at this point in time. It represents a major step in the implementation of the Corridor Work Plan and will trigger additional investments (e.g. mooring infrastructures in other Danube countries).

Project activities

  • Upgrade of Iron Gate II navigational lock (Serbia): improve functional performance and reduce duration of lock cycles
  • Upgrade infrastructure for mooring operations (Austria): secure availability of well-equipped mooring places on the Austrian Danube, including upgrade of 3 public mooring places in Austria (Linz, Vienna and Wildungsmauer)
  • Procurement of equipment to ensure year-round navigability (Austria and Serbia): high-quality multifunctional marking vessels in Austria & Serbia and a state-of-the-art surveying vessel and AIS AtoNs in Serbia


FAIRway works!

From 01 March 2021
to 10 October 2021


Waterway infrastructure