Schneider Electric launches Eurotunnel rail service with XPO
XPO Logistics, an American provider of freight transportation services, launched a new intermodal service between France and the United Kingdom. This new service will be on behalf of Schneider Electric, a French company specialising in...Read more
Spanish association not happy with government’s rail freight strategy
The Spanish government published its Indicative Strategy for developing, maintaining, and renovating the railway infrastructure in December. However, the European Alliance Association for the development of Railway Corridors pointed out a series of deficiencies concerning...Read more
Brittany Ferries confirms wagon order for ‘rail freight motorway’ service
Brittany Ferries has confirmed an order of wagons from French manufacturer Lohr ahead of the launch of its ‘rail freight motorway’ service between Cherbourg and Bayonne in France. The service is scheduled to be launched...Read more
No access roads for Lyon to the Turin-Lyon tunnel before 2045?
New access railway lines to the Turin-Lyon tunnel from Lyon might not be ready before 2045, more than a decade after the expected commissioning of the structure in 2032. This is because the French government...Read more
France responds to European Commission probe into Fret SNCF state aid
France is ready for the formal examination procedure by the European Commission into the conditions of the financing of SNCF’s rail freight unit, Fret SNCF, dating back several years before its transformation into a subsidiary...Read more
Delta Rail will launch a new service between France and Germany
Delta Rail, a French multimodal operator and subsidiary of Modalis Group, will launch a new rail freight service between Chalon-sur-Saone, in eastern France, and Duisburg. The new service will start on 28 February. It will...Read moreFrench intermodal freight operator appeals to state on energy price hike
Brittany-based Lahaye Global Logistics, one of the pioneers of combined road-rail transport development in France, has called on the state authorities to intervene to limit the impact of rising energy prices in the rail freight...Read more
Electricity prices in France will multiply by 8.5
SNCF Réseau will increase the electricity prices in France, from 56 euros/MWh in 2021 to 473,51 euros/MWh in 2023, which equals to an 8,5 fold increase. According to Alliance 4F, the largest rail freight association...Read moreFrench rail workers to strike over the weekend
STRIKE ALERTAfter negotiations with SNCF on Friday 10 December failed, French union SUD-Rail is maintaining their plan to strike from 15 December to 19 December. The French national rail company offered 60 extra euros a month...Read more
Lyon-Turin: works have started on another section of the French tunnel
Drilling operations on the French side of the base tunnel for the Lyon-Turin railway have started on Thursday 8 December for the tunnel connecting Saint Jean de Maurienne and Saint Julien Montdenis. The 3-kilometre-long tunnel...Read more
VIIA moves Turkey-France Ro-Ro cargo from road to rail
VIIA, a French transportation company, has launched a new rail freight service connecting the port of Sete, in southern France, with the Valenton terminal, 15 kilometres from Paris. This new connection is expected to boost...Read more
Alstom and ENGIE will help Nestle Waters France to shift to rail
Nestle Waters France will use a hydrogen-powered freight train for the transport of VITTEL mineral water from 2025. The innovative system will be developed by Alstom and the hydrogen will be provided by ENGIE. The...Read more
The new railway facility in Nantes is up and running
The new rail logistics area in Nantes-Blottereau, in northwestern France, was inaugurated Thursday, 17 November. The new facility, which replaced the one in Nantes-Etat, will be suitable for 750-metre-long trains and will be also used...Read more
French rail association asks for more state aid to develop rail freight
Major rail freight players in France presented new demands to Clement Beaune, the Minister for Transport, as Alliance 4F (Fret Ferroviaire Français du Futur) claimed. The main purpose of these demands is to make rail freight...Read moreFrance offers electricity price relief to promote shift to rail
France has given added impetus to its aim to speed up the transition of freight transport modes by opening up the state energy savings certificate (ESC) scheme to shippers. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, minister for Energy Transition,...Read more
France: Saint Varent-Parthenay line will reopen in 2023 after eight years
The renovation process of a railway line in western France, unused since 2015, started earlier in November. The 30-kilometres-long section, connecting Saint Varent and Parthenay, should reopen for freight transportation, with trains operating at a...Read more
Port of Brest: rail track reused after nine years thanks to Bunge
For the first time in nine years, rail tracks in the port of Brest, northwestern France, were finally used again. Bunge, an American agribusiness and food company, has started supplying its facility in Brest by...Read moreCommission injects nearly half a billion into French single wagonload transport
Another incentive is added for rail companies in France and a booster for the French national rail freight development plan. Last week, the European Commission approved a 450 million euros state aid scheme to support...Read more
Spain and Poland are now closer thanks to CFL and KLOG
CFL Multimodal from Luxembourg has launched a new rail freight service between Sète, in southern France, and Poznan, in Western Poland. For now, there will be one roundtrip per week, as a spokesperson from CFL...Read more