The French Agency for the Ecological Transition (ADEME) approved financial schemes to fund six rail projects aimed at boosting the modal shift. Once completed, these projects are expected to remove over 21,000 trucks from French roads, according to ADEME.
The first rail project selected by ADEME concerns logistics company XPO and the creation of a conventional train service connecting Langres, Orange and Fos/Arles. The second project involves aggregate company Budillion Rabatel and rail services for asphalt material between Lyon and Grenoble. The third one interests Logilec, part of the E. Leclerc Group. Here, the main goal is to boost the modal shift from road to rail for the company along its most used routes: Lille-Marseille, Lille-Bordeaux, Lille-Toulouse and Dourges-Lyon.
The fourth initiative revolves around Norske Skog, a Norwegian pulp and paper company, and combined transport services to move recycled paper between Noisy le Sec and Golbey. The fifth rail project selected by ADEME in this first round will affect Geodis, a logistics subsidiary of the national SNCF Group and a modal shift for the transport of chemical products along the Martigues-Puyoo route. The sixth and last company benefitting from this initiative is IFCO and the flow of reusable containers for packaging fresh produce between Lisses and Perpignan/Cavaillon.
The REMOVE project
The initiative launched by ADEME is part of the so-called REMOVE project, which promotes the shift from road transport to more environmentally friendly modes. There were two rounds of Call for Projects (CFP) throughout 2024. The six rail projects, together with three more concerning inland waterways, are the nine winners of the first round, which saw 18 applications coming in. During the second round of CFPs, 77 applications were submitted and the winners should be announced in 2025. Moreover, next year there will be another CFP.
In total, ADEME is putting almost 19 million euros on the table. Of these 2,8 million euros will be deployed for the nine projects selected out of the first round, 10 million will go to the winners of the second round of applications, and six million euros will be kept for next year’s CFP. The funds will be used for software development, salaries for project management, transport costs and equipment, among others.