Blue Banana: a corridor of industry and services
If you have been working in the European transport and logistic industry, sooner or later you must have heard of the ‘Blue Banana’. It’s a corridor of industry and services that runs from the United Kingdom to Northern Italy and covers the Netherlands, Belgium, the south and middle part of Germany, and Austria. An area that depicted the ‘active’ space in Europe, when the term was first coined in 1989. Since then, this active space has further expanded, but the blue banana still covers the busiest transportation routes in Europe. In this blog, we zoom in on the Ruhr Area and the German highways A3 and A61, as part of the Blue Banana. Driving there quite often? We also listed 5 road services locations that can be found in this area.
The Ruhr Area and the traffic arteries A3 and A61
Part of the Blue Banana is one of Germany’s leading industrial areas: the Ruhr Area. In the middle ages, the Ruhr Area was an important trade route and later developed into the industrial complex it is now. Steel plants and large factories processing steel have been at the basis of industrial growth. Since then, the Ruhr Area is no longer known for its steel, but it is still one of the main areas with a rich production and service industry. Two highways run like arteries through this part of the Blue Banana. One is the Autobahn 3 or A3, which runs from the Dutch-German border near Wesel to the Austrian-German border near Passau. The A3 is 778 km long and connects the Ruhr Area with southern Germany, making it a very busy route. The second is the Autobahn 61 or A61, which runs from the Dutch-German border near Venlo to the interchange with the A6. The A61 runs parallel to the A3 but on the opposite side of the Rhine. Did you know that part of the A61 is designed as an emergency airstrip, with roadside car parks that can be used to park planes?
Service locations in the Ruhr Area
Is your fleet driving back and forth in this area? We have highlighted a few road service locations in the Ruhr Area. All are easily booked in advance via TRAVIS Road Services:
Manage your road services
Looking for more strategically located service locations in this area? With TRAVIS Road Services, you can easily manage all your road service needs. TRAVIS helps you to easily locate and book suitable service locations nearby and settle the payment cashlessly with one collective invoice. This way, your drivers no longer have stacks of invoices and receipts to declare. A new way of managing your road services and an opportunity to use idle time more efficiently. For more information, visit the TRAVIS Road Services platform.
