The new IWT(Inland Waterway Transportation) service is based on a barge container service on Göta älv between the port of Göteborg to receivers in the geographic area of Trollhättan-Vänersborg. By using existing inland waterways, the new IWT service has a potential to shift cargo from the road network into a more sustainable way of transportation looking at emissions, congestion and safety.

Looking into the container market the trend shows that new warehouses and production sites are established in the Trollhättan/Vänersborg region and the main container flows are passing the port of Göteborg in import or export direction. By locating new industries to this geographical area, it is possible to benefit from lower land prices and building cost combined with the availability of a reliably workforce. The downside of these new establishments is an increase of frequent transportation to and from the port of Göteborg on the roads along the Göta älv valley. Since Göteborg and the area around the city already are suffering from heavy congestion and high environmental impact a more sustainable logistics is needed. A possible solution to meet this need is a modern barge container service with high cargo capacity that can move about hundred trucks per day from the road system.

A new IWT-service can offer a more sustainable and safe solution than today’s traditional transport on road however; transport on inland waterways has a too high cost level due to the present regulations where high fees and expensive handling costs are affecting the barge alternative in a negative way. Facing the high costs and at the same time trying to operate on a mature transport market with extreme low pricing means that a new IWT concept will be associated with high financial risks.           To succeed with the intended modal shift, Sweden needs rapidly to adapt the remaining IWW-regulations and standards as the rest of the EU. The main conclusion is that during the present circumstances the business risk is too big for establishing a new IWT solution for containers on Göta äl