Ambitious French freight project might be close to its end
The ambitious French railway cooperative project Railcoop seems to be facing hick ups that will lead to its rail freight services suspension. The financial non-viability of cargo services will probably force the project to focus...Read more
OTIV deploys new system for safer shunting operations
OTIV, a Belgian company specialised in developing systems for rail transportation deployed a new system that will take out human labour from potentially dangerous situations at shunting yards. It will be deployed at the rail...Read more
What will Macron do about access routes to the Turin-Lyon tunnel?
The debate about the Turin-Lyon railway is in a heated phase since France does not seem too keen on providing access routes to the tunnel from Lyon. Last week, 57 French senators sent a pledge...Read more
Decision for Rhine-Alpine alternative on Rhine left bank is now up to France
Pledges to find alternative rail freight routes along the left bank of the Rhine river have been discussed for a few months now due to rising capacity bottlenecks along the main line. Now the ball...Read more
Macron and Von der Leyen in China: EU de-risking, Ukraine and trade
ANALYSISThe much-discussed visit of French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission head Ursula Von der Leyen in China is unfolding. By meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two European leaders aim to push for...Read more
A rail line in southern France reopens after ten years thanks to cereals
The railway line connecting Beaucaire to Marseille reopened on 28 March to start a service for cereal transportation on behalf of French agricultural group Arterris. As the Community of Municipalities Beaucaire Terre D’Argence (CCBTA) noted,...Read more
Lineas back on track with new Ghent-Lyon rail service
After laying low for a year, Lineas seems to be back on track. The company launched a new rail service with logistics firm DFDS to link the North Sea Port in Ghent and Port Edouard...Read more
Controversial Spain-France rail border crossing could reopen in 2028
The rail border crossing between Canfranc (Spain) and Bedous (France) might reopen in 2028. This is what Alain Rousset, president of the French region Nouvelle Aquitaine, said Wednesday 15 March during his visit to the...Read more
Eurotunnel’s new shuttle service reduces transit time and increases volumes
Eurotunnel is launching FIRST, a new subscription service to give priority to trucks that want to hop on the rail freight shuttle to cross the Channel Tunnel between France and the UK. Companies applying for...Read more
Nevomo and SNCF to use MagRail to boost freight capacity in France
Pioneer of maglev-inspired technology for existing railways Nevomo has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French state railways SNCF. The companies will evaluate the benefits of MagRail within the French railway network to...Read more
MEDWAY: 45 million euros to expand into France
Portuguese rail freight operator MEDWAY is planning to expand its operation outside of the Lusitanian border. The company will in fact invest in rolling stock to deploy between Spain and France.Read more
Europorte and InVivo choose Saipol’s green fuel to transport cereals
tech tuesdaySince last week, another train can be seen on the tracks, fuelled by a plant-based biofuel. In France, the freight trains of Europorte on behalf of InVivo, a French agricultural group, will be fuelled by...Read more
New Rennes-Lille rail service coming soon
French company LaHaye Global Logistics will launch a new rail connection between the Rennes Terminal the port of Lille. The first train will depart on 13 March with three weekly roundtrips scheduled. This new connection...Read more
100 billion for rail in France until 2042, but is it enough?
France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne claimed that the French government is ready to allocate 100 billion euros for the execution of the plan presented by the Infrastructure Orientation Council (COI). The plan analyses the necessary...Read more
Is France giving up on this border crossing with Spain?
France might not participate in the financing for the modernisation of the Pau-Canfranc-Zaragoza railway, one of the lines crossing the France-Spain border, closed since 1970. No budget was allocated for this project in a leaked...Read more
French combined transport plan sees 60% traffic increase in 4 years
Industry body GNTC, SNCF-owned Rail Logistics Europe (RLE) and consultants Altermind have published a report on their development plan for French combined transport, which makes provision for traffic to increase by 60 per cent by...Read more
Rail operators in France struggle to pay their electricity bills
Electricity contracts must be subject to renegotiation immediately, says the French rail association AFRA. Many rail freight operators in France struggle with the increased electricity bills, which threaten their viability. Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau quadrupled...Read more
A new facility for combined transport in France will be ready in 2025
A new facility for combined transport in Fleury-les-Aubrais, near Orleans, in central France, will be ready by 2025. This facility is expected to boost rail freight coming to and from the HAROPA Ports (Le Havre,...Read more
SNCF launches Rail Route Connect for massive road-to-rail shift
Seven companies with logistics sites across France joined forces with Fret SNCF to form the first national network to promote a massive shift of rail: Rail Route Connect (2RC). The association’s main objective is to...Read more