Quality train path capacity, a reliable and high level of service and efficient handling terminals are the three main pre-requisites if French combined road-rail transport is to develop, according to Rémy Crochet, the president of the French association GNTC. He specified that the sector in France currently represents around 100 trains a day and accounts for around 45 per cent of the volume of the country’s rail freight.
Speaking at a round-table discussion during the recent annual conference of lobby group, Objectif-OFP, in Paris, Crochet revealed that for the nine months of 2024, traffic volumes, expressed in tonne-kilometres, showed an increase of 12 per cent compared to the same period last year. However, putting the data into context, he said that activity in the first 3-4 months of 2023 had been badly-affected by industrial action at the SNCF Group, which had weighed significantly on volumes.
“It takes years to get road hauliers and shippers on to trains and when there are recurrent strikes over several months you lose them and it’s very difficult to get them back.” Compared to 2022, traffic decreased by 8 per cent, but part of the decline was down to the closure, since August 2023, of the main line between France and Italy via Modane, following a major landslide, Crochet explained.
Quality capacity
As for the pre-requisites that will allow road-rail freight traffic to grow, he began with the availability of ‘quality’ capacity, underlining that in order to make up a train, you need paths which correspond closely to the timetables that customers want.
“This is an absolute basic. If we can’t obtain such paths then our customers won’t come, at least not in the numbers hoped for.” He said that for 2025, train paths for new traffic in France were more or less allocated but unfortunately they were a long way from meeting requirements in terms of timetabling.
“We realise that maintenance work on the network has to be carried out and accept that this will cause us some problems. We are also aware that passenger services have to be catered for too. But frankly, we have concerns about the feasibility of SNCF Réseau being able to allocate train paths which meet the timetabling requests of our customers over the next five to 10 years.”
Reliable services
As for offering a reliable and high level of service, “which is what our customers see”, Crochet said that the sector was confronted with issues nightly. “This is not necessarily the fault of rail network manager SNCF Réseau but could be a result of bad weather, ageing infrastructure, or a common occurence: animals on the track – wild boar being one example. The fact is we continue to to fall short of what some shippers are expecting.”
Efficient terminals
Finally, Crochet turned his attention to the necessity of efficient handling terminals if ‘combi’ transport is to thrive.
“It really is all about terminals. One might have a mediocre train path and a mediocre standard of service but if you don’t have terminals you can’t make up trains and we absolutely have to move forward in expanding such provision. Without adequate terminals, we won’t achieve a modal freight traffic share for rail of 18% (compared to 9-10% currently in France), not even 15% or 13%. It’s just not possible. And today, a large number of terminals are at saturation point.”
He applauded the recent publication of a “national master plan” for combined transport which identifies the need for 20 new terminals and the upgrading and extension of existing ones. “Above all, this plan focuses on requirements over the next five, 10 or 15 years. It must be implemented, at least in part, if we are to develop rail freight and combined transport, in particular, in France.”