Regiorail, a rail freight company active in France fruit of a joint venture between Belgian logistics company Eurorail and US-based, Railroad Development Corporation, is set to more than double its combined road-rail business this year. The short-line carrier’s activities are not only getting a boost from two traffic routes taken over from Fret SNCF as part of the latter’s discontinuity plan, but also from the very strong interest being shown by shippers in low-carbon transport.
One of the routes in question links Paris-Valenton and Perpignan, on the French-Spanish border, five times per week, while the other connects Valenton and Marseille-Miramas, also with five weekly frequencies. Both routes are operated on behalf of Novatrans.
Speaking to French media in an interview, CEO Brice Devinoy said that the company could be interested in taking over other profitable traffic routes that Fret SNCF continues to sub-contract to other rail companies. “New opportunities could therefore arise over the next three years. However, our short-term ambition is to stabilise the combined road-rail business, which will account for 25-28 per cent of our turnover this year, compared with just over 10 per cent last year.”
New services and hybrid rolling stock
A recent success for Regiorail was its appointment to provide traction for a reactivated rail delivery service carrying bottled water shipments between a production site of food industry giant Danone in northern France and a warehouse of retail chain, Carrefour. Further business expansion could be on the cards during the second half of 2024 with Regiorail planning to launch cross-border traffic using conventional wagons between France and Germany. Other routes – domestic and international – could follow from next year.
Regiorail is also looking to invest in hybrid (electric/diesel) locomotives but has baulked at the asking price – 25 per cent higher than that of a high-powered electric or diesel locomotive. “Even if some of our customers are prepared to work with us to reduce this (price) differential, the acquisition cost is still too high for companies of our size. Above all, we don’t understand why the government doesn’t provide specific aid to reduce this differential. European countries such as Spain have already done so, so why shouldn’t we?”
Increasing Regiorail’s quality of service
Devinoy highlighted that Regiorail had achieved a quality of service rating of 95 per cent on the two routes for the period January-July 2024. Commenting on the promising start, he underlined that Regiorail wants to go even further in terms of quality of service. “Our aim is to increase this rate to 98 per cent by September 2024. To get there, we are counting on the flexibility and responsiveness of the resources we have put in place on these North-South routes”.