On the mainline
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THE DEVELOPMENT of the Belgian motorway network has made this small country an important crossroads.
Many big-name hauliers have set up bases not only at the ports and near major cities, but also near trunk road interchanges.
A report that the State is to back two large inland freight terminals further argues the case for road freight depots outside towns.
The large "gare routiere" planned for Bierset, located at the intersection of four motorways west of Liege, is near the Dutch and German frontiers, and will link with the Brussels-Cologne main line. The Bierset project is to be carried out in three distinct phases, with the first development stage costing over BFcs680m (E11.5m).
Some 85 miles further west, near the point where the E10 autoroute from France enters Belgium, a similar scheme at HoudengGoegnies will occupy an area of 135 acres. The Houdeng facility will provide extensive marshalling and parking aprons and all the usual under-cover transhipment and warehousing services. It is also proposed to include an international container terminal.