Vital link
While the EU waterway network of 35,000 km does not cover the whole of Europe in the same way road and railways do, most major cities, centres of commerce and industry and ports are connected by rivers and canals, ideal to carry goods from producer to customer. 

There are four main arteries to the network.
The North – South corridor runs from the Lower Rhine, through Northern France and the Garonne to Marseille via the Loire and Rhone-Saone.
The Rhine corridor  covers the whole of the Rhine confluence and the canals in Western Germany, the Benelux countries, Eastern France and Switzerland.
The East - West corridor covers the Mittelland canal and the confluences of the Elbe, Odra and Wistula.
The South – East corridor covers the Danube confluence between German Bavaria and the Black Sea with all tributaries including the Main-Danube canal.

All these corridors are interlinked. The North-South corridor connects to the Rhine corridor in the Lower Rhine area. The Rhine corridor is linked with the South-East corridor via the Main-Danube canal, and with the East-West corridor via the German canal system. Small rivers and canals have an important feeder function to the main waterways, extending the penetration of the distribution system.

The Scandinavian Countries, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, the United Kingdom and Ireland have their own waterway networks, with short sea routes providing links to the European mainland.

Main other waterway networks in the world
 USA: 42,000 km
 Russia: 85,000 km
 China: 121,000 km

Main other transport networks in the EU
 Road: 4,800,000 km
 Rail: 200,000 km