Regions of Connected Knowledge

Programme 2007 - 2013 North West Europe

Date of latest update: 2021-04-06

Description

Description (EN):

Overall aim of RoCK is to improve connectivity within and between regions of knowledge. by development of railway connections into high quality efficient and user-friendly interoperable systems. Within the RoCK-project. connectivity will be improved by making use of existing connections and by developing and implementing smart solutions to improve their quality. Partnership The RoCK partnership includes cities (representatives of knowledge regions). transport companies and development organisations. In addition to the RoCK project partners. a large number of strategically important organisations is involved in the project and and has signed a lettter of support (see Annexes). This includes local and regional governments. chambers of commerce. development organisations. regional cooperatives and transport bodies / transport organisations (including DB and NS). The RoCK partners want to boost mobility and knowledge-exchange between their regions by improving the quality of railway connections. They have identified several small-scale investments and actions that will have a large impact on connectivity. RoCK will deal with technical barriers for quality improvement. and with barriers resulting from the different institutional contexts. International accessibility of the network for the end-users is addressed as well. To achieve RoCK’s aims. cooperation between stakeholders is a must. Within RoCK. stakeholders (including operators) will jointly work on concrete (cross-border) improvement-projects. Next to this. RoCK involves targeted communication actions. aimed at the creation of new alliances. building on the experiences and network of the Interreg IIIB ‘HST-community’ (SEEDA-led projects).

Achievements (EN):

In the implementation of the 4 international rail connections, all RoCK partners have to solve not only technical, operational and infrastructure problems but also deal with legal and administrative issues on a regional, national and international level. A major political achievement of transnational relevance is the successfully adopted extension of the Dutch main rail network concession 'Hoofdrailnet concessie' 2015-2025. In the new concession the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) actively tasks to offer services to the first major rail hubs with frequent long distance and High Speed services across the border. RoCK managed that Düsseldorf and Aachen are part of the concession. This change in law is a major success of the RoCK partnership and means a substantial operational perspective far beyond the lifetime of the project. As intermediate result the RoCK partners of the IC connection Eindhoven-Düsseldorf managed the double-track upgrade of the bottleneck Kaldenkirchen-Dülken to be part of German Federal Transport Plan. A major step forward for the future IC connection Eindhoven-Aachen: To fill the missing rail link between the Dutch Heerlen and the German Aachen the electrification of the Dutch track section between Landgraaf and the border started. For the cross-border light rail Hasselt-Maastricht the Flemish transport operator De Lijn, the Flemish Government, the City of Maastricht and the Province of Limburg signed the transnational implementation and operational agreement. This secures realisation and maintenance and operation during the next 35 years. The tender process in Fanders and the Netherland started. The Transmanche Metro project aims to deliver an inter-regional rail service linking Kent with Nord Pas de Calais utilising the services of the existing international rail operator, Eurostar. As part of the technical study a re-signalling of Ashford was identified as essential for Transmanche Metro. The re-signalling will ensure that Ashford will remain fully inter-operable for the new international trains on order for Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn, the first of which enter service in 2016. Thanks to RoCK, this has moved from being a problem without a solution to a technically feasible proposal and with which all stakeholders have engaged.

Website: http://www.nweurope.eu/

Expected Results (EN):

On improving operability: - Development of interoperability-systems on the railway track Eindhoven-Venlo-Düsseldorf (Investment I) - A hybrid system solution at connection Eindhoven-Heerlen-Aachen, allowing IC trains running from Eindhoven to Aachen (investment II) - Safety and system integration (ERMTS) to allow higher speeds at the first Dutch-Belgium Light lightrail connection Maastricht-Hasselt/Leuven (Investment III). On innovative arrangements: - business case, including investigation of new forms of cross-border regulations and new ppp’s for the establishment of a regional rail service on the HST 1 Cross Channel Link (Kent County Council). - Targeted workshops, canvassing meetings and strategic events, to tackle barriers remaining EU-level barriers, in cooperation with the (former) SEEDA HST Community and by using Rock’s showcases (2.3) To stimulate use: - A business case for an ultra-modern public transport system to connect new and existing campus areas of RWTH Aachen with Aachen West Station (3.1). - Concrete steps towards integrated ticketing with pilots in different contexts: advanced PDA-based ticketing systems, web-based booking facilities (3.2). - Strategic marketing tools to encourage behavioural change by providing targeted information. Pilots on individual information supply via a Wifi network (Reading) and strategic marketing of new cross-border connection Eindhoven-Heerlen-Aachen) through national and transnational marketing schemes (3.3). Transnational workinggroups will exchange on and evaluate investments and pilot actions. They will also coordinate transnational studies to fill information gaps: e.g. on financial arrangements and on specific client needs.

Thematic information

Transport and mobility Improving transport connections Infrastructure

Partners (13)

Lead Partner: Gemeente Eindhoven

Address: Postbus 90150, 5600 RB Eindhoven, Netherlands

Legal status: n/a

Conseil Régional Nord - Pas de Calais (CRNPC)

Name: Conseil Régional Nord - Pas de Calais (CRNPC)

Address: 151, avenue du Président Hoover, 59555 Lille, France

Legal status: n/a

Gemeente Venlo

Name: Gemeente Venlo

Address: Postbus 3434, 5902 RK Venlo, Netherlands

Legal status: n/a

Vlaamse Vervoermaatschappij De Lijn

Name: Vlaamse Vervoermaatschappij De Lijn

Address: Ragheno Business Park Motstraat 20, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium

Legal status: n/a

Stadt Mönchengladbach

Name: Stadt Mönchengladbach

Address: Harmoniestrasse 25, 41236 Mönchengladbach, Germany

Legal status: n/a

Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf

Name: Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf

Address: Auf'm Hennekamp 45, 40200 Düsseldorf, Germany

Legal status: n/a

Stadt Aachen (Municipality of Aachen)

Name: Stadt Aachen (Municipality of Aachen)

Address: Lagerhausstrasze 20, 52058 Aachen, Germany

Legal status: n/a

Aachener Verkehrsverbund GmbH

Name: Aachener Verkehrsverbund GmbH

Address: Neuköllner Strasze 1, 52068 Aachen, Germany

Legal status: n/a

Reading Borough Council

Name: Reading Borough Council

Address: Level 9, Civic Centre, RG1 7TD Reading Borough Council, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Gemeente Maastricht

Name: Gemeente Maastricht

Address: P.O. Box 1992, 6202 BZ Maastricht, Netherlands

Legal status: n/a

Parkstad Limbug

Name: Parkstad Limbug

Address: Postbus 200, 6400 AE Heerlen, Netherlands

Legal status: n/a

South East England Development Agency - SEEDA

Name: South East England Development Agency - SEEDA

Address: Cross Lanes, GU1 1YA Guildford, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Kent County Council

Name: Kent County Council

Address: Invicta House, County Hall, Maidstone, ME14 1XX Town Kent, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Regions of Connected Knowledge

Project acronym: RoCK

Project start date: 2007-07-01

Project end date: 2015-06-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 11 819 000.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 5 909 500.00

Co-financing sources:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2007 - 2013 North West Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2015-12-01

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

114 / 114 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

1 104 / 1 104 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the programme and collected from programme's website

Languages

Contact Form

Regions of Connected Knowledge

Description

Thematic information

Partners (13)

Partners map

Summary

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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