ABSTRACT
Transport development is gradually shifting inland after a phase focused on developing port terminals and maritime shipping networks. A rail-based dry port (or inland port) has three basic requirements to fulfill a relevant commercial role; an intermodal terminal, logistics activities, and a corridor to a gateway. Each inland port remains the outcome of transport geography pertaining to modal availability and efficiency, market function, intensity, and the regulatory framework and governance. Regional issues, namely how inland ports interact with their regional markets, remain fundamental as they define their modal characteristics, regulatory framework, and commercial opportunities. The setting up of dry ports has been a dominant paradigm in hinterland transportation development. The development of dry ports worldwide has underlined an emerging functional relation of port terminals and their hinterland. There have been large inland terminals in North America since the development of the transcontinental railway system in the late nineteenth century.
