A new subsidiary of the Swiss Federal Railways, christened SBB Cargo France, was recently established to provide services along “the French route through Alsace as an alternative to the German Rhine Valley”. A spokesperson from the company specified that there are no current plans to take over services from Fret SNCF, which is undergoing a major restructuring and was forced to give up several routes.
“That is not our focus, as our French production company is still in the process of being established”, the spokesperson highlighted when discussing a possible takeover of Fret SNCF’s sevices. The main reason behind the creation of this new entity is that “the four-lane expansion of the Rhine Valley route between Karlsruhe and Basel will continue until at least 2042”. This is just one of the main bottlenecks along the Rhine-Alpine Corridor, most of which will persist until at least 2030.
More information to come
Omar Olivier Zarkly, who is a part of SBB Cargo International and also worked with Etihad Rail and DB Cargo France, was appointed as project manager. The new company has its headquarters in Huningue, a French town bordering Basel. Information about the size of SBB Cargo France’s workforce as well as more specifics on the routes and the company’s fleet will be provided throughout the second half of 2024, the spokesperson added. SBB Cargo is already transiting through France from Basel with a connection to Antwerp, in Belgium. However, the establishment of SBB Cargo France aims at creating a connection to Germany.
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