| Country: | EUR |
| Type: | E |
| Route: | 30 |
| Direction A: | West |
| Terminus A: | Cork, Ireland |
| Direction B: | East |
| Terminus B: | Omsk, Russia |
| Countries: |  Ireland United Kingdom Netherlands Germany Poland Belarus |
European route E30 is an A-Class European route from the port of Cork in Ireland in the west to the Russian city of Omsk, near the border with Kazakhstan in the east. For much of the Russian stretch, it follows the Trans-Siberian Highway and, east of the Ural Mountains, with AH6 of the Asian Highway Network, which continues to Busan, South Korea. The total length is 6530km (4,060miles)—3300km (2,100miles) from Cork to Moscow, and 3230km (2,010miles) from Moscow to Omsk. The naming is by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
Cork –Waterford – Wexford – Rosslare
Rosslare - Fishguard (Stena Line)
United Kingdom – Heathrow (Interchange with at Newbury)
London Orbital (Interchange with at and multiplex with between and)
- Ipswich (Interchange with at Colchester)
Ipswich (Interchange with) – Felixstowe
See main article: European route E30 in the Netherlands.
Hook of Holland – The Hague (Den Haag)
The Hague – Gouda (Start of concurrency with)– Utrecht (End of Concurrency with)
Bad Bentheim – Osnabrück – Bünde – Bad Oeynhausen
Bad Oeynhausen – Hanover – Magdeburg (- Potsdam
Potsdam - Berlin - Königs Wusterhausen
Königs Wusterhausen - Frankfurt an der Oder
Świecko - Świebodzin - Poznań - Łódź - Łowicz - Warsaw
Kałuszyn - Siedlce - Biała Podlaska - Wólka Dobryńska - Terespol
Brest - Kobryn (Start of Concurrency with) - Ivatsevichy (End of Concurrency with) - Baranavichy - Minsk (Towards) - Barysaw - Orsha - Dubrowna
Moscow – Ryazan – Penza – Samara – Ufa –Chelyabinsk
(Formerly) Chelyabinsk (– Kurgan – Ishim
Ishim - Omsk (Start of Concurrency with)
Omsk (End of Concurrency with) - Maryanovka - Moskalenki - Isilkul -
Kazakhstan/ Border crossingThe Russian stretch of this road coincides partly with the Asian Highway Network's AH6 (though this latter highway passes through Petropavl, Kazakhstan in its stretch between Chelyabinsk and Omsk, unlike the E 30). The E 30 follows the Russian main road M1 Belarus-Moscow, M5 Moscow-Chelyabinsk, and R254 Chelyabinsk-Kurgan. It goes along minor roads past Ishim to avoid the Kazakh border towards Omsk.
Throughout the UK, the Euroroute network is largely unsigned.[3] [4]
The E30 uses primary routes and motorways across the UK and is approximately between Felixstowe in East Anglia and Fishguard Harbour, Goodwick, in Wales.[5]
On mainland Europe, the E30 terminates at Hoek-van-Holland where a ferry is required to cross the North Sea to Felixstowe, United Kingdom. The Port of Felixstowe is a major UK freight port with limited passenger operations present. In 2014, Felixstowe handled 28.1 megatonnes of freight, demonstrating the importance of the port within UK import and export sectors, as well as within sectors responsible for the development of UK road infrastructure concerning the E30.[6] The route from Felixstowe to London:
The E30 avoids travelling through the centre of London by using the M25 to the north of London between junctions 28 and 15.
Major connections:
To the west of London, the E30 uses the M4 motorway to South Wales. The destinations along this route are linked as part of the M4 corridor, named "Britain's Science Corridor" by the New York Times upon its inception in 1983.[8] This is because the destinations along the M4 route have become "hubs for the UK bases of major global high-tech companies."[9]
The London to Bristol route largely follows that of the Great Western Main Line, which serves as a major infrastructural passenger and freight route between some of the destinations along this section of the E30.
Major destinations along this route include:
West of Bristol, the E30 crosses the River Severn over the Second Severn Crossing. The Severn Bridge is used as an alternative to and from Chepstow, which is not directly accessible from the E30. In Wales, the roads which carry the E30 are managed by the South Wales Trunk Road Agent on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.[10]
The E30 serves several major industrial destinations in Wales which are largely an extension of "Britain's Science Corridor". These include:
Chepstow is home to several scientific research centres, for example, CreoMedical, a firm which develops medical technologies for hospitals across the UK.[11]
Newport, Cardiff, Port Talbot, Swansea and Llanelli are coastal destinations with sea links. ABP maintains a presence at some of these destinations (not Llanelli, additionally at Barry), and handles over 12 million tonnes of freight each year, contributing over £1.5 billion to the economy.[12] This has been developed thanks to the historic development of infrastructure relating to the South Wales Valleys mining industry in the 20th century, which has since declined in recent decades with the rising imports of foreign oil. This can be shown in the closure of South Wales' last deep mine in 1994.[13]
Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and serves as Wales centre for governance, business and culture.[14] The devolved government of Wales is housed in Cardiff Bay.[15]
In November 2016, Brexit supporter David Rowlands AM (UKIP) argued that the Welsh Government should use trans-European Highways Access funds to maintain the M4 following the UK's departure from the EU. This would be in addition to those which Wales have already received to develop the M4 motorway in Wales. He justified his viewpoint by claiming that a large proportion of all Irish exports, both to the UK and the EU, pass along this route.[16] [17]
The E30 is carried by the A48 and A40 from Pont Abraham - the western terminal of the M4 - to Fishguard.Destinations along the A40 are:
At Fishguard, sea connections can be made to Ireland.