After a long absence of 13 years, rail is returning to the Stellantis car factory in Hordain in northern France. While Stellantis has long relied on road haulage, the covid pandemic threw a spanner in the works and forced the car manufacturer to reconsider its transport options.
Train services at the Stellantis plant in Hordain stopped running in 2011. Since then, the car manufacturer has relied on cheap road haulage for the transportation of its production. The covid pandemic finally undermined the decade-long reliance on road as low-cost Eastern European road hauliers became increasingly scarce. Consequently, Stellantis looked to rail as its replacement.
Europorte, a French private rail operator, renovated the terminal through its subsidiary Socorail, allowing for renewed rail service at the facility. The subsidiary also became the terminal’s operator.
Cars return to rail
The renovation enabled Stellantis to run its first domestic transport via rail in France. Stellantis joins a number of other car manufacturers in returning to rail transportation in France. Reportedly, car manufacturers have started using rail services on the routes between Montbéliard and Bassens, Le Havre and Barcelona in recent times, as well as between Poissy and Anvers.
Also read:
- French shippers say rail freight improves but remains ‘very inadequate’
- Vos Logistics starts R2L route in France: “A novelty, there are few solutions for silo trailers”
- DB Cargo France: ‘traffic decline balanced out by SNCF’s routes pickup’
