Following a historic drop in volumes in 2023, this year has shown the resilience of French intermodal freight transport with traffic picking up again. By autumn, the sector was in a position to return to 2022 levels, at least for the road-rail segment, according to industry body GNTC. “This strong demand, driven by the intrinsic efficiency of combined transport and its environmental merits, augurs well for 2025, despite the considerable political and geopolitical uncertainties,” it said.
Previewing the coming year from several perspectives, the GNTC began with the regulatory framework at European Union (EU) level and highlighted three projects that were not completed during the previous mandate of the European Commission: the revision of the 1992 Directive on combined transport; the draft regulation on rail capacity; and the new draft rules on the weights and dimensions of European road transport vehicles.
“The revision of the 1992 Directive will bring progress on the harmonisation of definitions and support mechanisms but also risks of a reverse modal shift while the new draft rules on the weights and dimensions, in particular the raising of the legal ceiling for cross-border transport to 44 tonnes and the authorisation of modular road systems known as ‘megatrucks’, are two problematic initiatives for European combined transport,” the GNTC noted.
Infrastructure development
Turning to infrastructure development, the industry body is awaiting the operational launch of ‘Ulysse Fret’ – a 4 billion-euro investment programme targeting the modernisation and expansion of France’s rail freight network covering the period to 2032 – to which it has actively contributed over the past two years. The final report was submitted to the government last month and encompasses service and sorting facilities, capillary lines, digital technology, gauges, capacity and intermodal terminals.
However, the State’s funding commitment to the programme (2 billion euros, a sum that the EU will match) has yet to be confirmed given the political upheaval affecting France currently. A new government is in the process of being formed, the previous administration having lasted a little over three months and being unable to finalise the 2025 budget.
Whatever the outcome, 2025 will see the continuation of efforts to improve the national rail network to the benefit of combined transport, such as the upgrading of track and signalling between Laroche and Dijon, on the Paris-Lyon route and the raising of tunnel gauges between Poitiers and Angoulême, on the Paris-Bordeaux route, the GNTC underlined.
Some of this work, supervised by rail infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau, will be organised in such a way as to limit the impact on freight in order to preserve night-time ‘combined’ train paths.
Terminal development
As for the development of intermodal terminals, in October, the government published a master plan which makes provision for the creation of 22 new combi hubs and the extension and modernisation of existing ones at an estimated cost of 1.1 billion euros. This with a view to tripling traffic volumes. Its implementation is due to begin next year with the timeframe for the conception-to-operation of a new terminal put at between five and seven years.
In the meantime, improvements at a number of existing terminals – Vénissieux, near Lyon, Miramas, near Marseille and Toulouse-Fenouillet – are scheduled for completion in 2025. As for the Paris-Valenton terminal, it will see the deployment of remote-controlled gantries following those installed at the TOP terminal in Miramas.
New services
In parallel with these developments, road-rail operators continue to develop new services. The Cherbourg-Bayonne-Mouguerre rolling highway is earmarked for launch next spring providing an intermodal transport solution between the UK and Spain via the Normandy port. Other international routes in the pipeline for 2025 include a new ‘combi’ service between Valenton and Daventry, connecting Paris to the logistics heartland of England, on the London-Birmingham route. New links are also planned between Dourges, in northern France and Germany and Poland.
The French road-rail segment will also get a boost from the re-opening of a major line between France and Italy, which has been closed to trains since end-August 2023 following a major landslide which seriously damaged rail infrastructure. Traffic is expected to resume next spring. “Combined transport has been severely handicapped for the past year and a half and traffic flows having to be diverted via Ventimiglia, on the French-Italian border or Switzerland, if they have not been switched to road altogether,” the GNTC noted.