News / Brittany Ferries intermodal 'freight motorway' initiative back on track

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Brittany Ferries has announced the 2024 launch of a rail freight ‘motorway’ service for unaccompanied trailers, running between the Normandy port of Cherbourg and Bayonne, in the French Basque region, a voyage of almost 1,000 km.

The aim, it said, was to link up with the freight markets in the UK, Ireland and Spain.

The “seamless transport” of unaccompanied trailers from Ireland (Rosslare) and the UK (Poole and Portsmouth) to the Iberian peninsula and vice versa, via France’s Atlantic corridor, would reduce the number of trucks transiting France by road by around 25,000 a year, said Brittany Ferries, which added that it would “operate and market the new service, effectively becoming a rail operator” .

Brittany Ferries had unveiled the project in February 2020, shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic struck and triggered a sharp reduction in ferry services lasting almost two years.

Initially planned for this year, the service is now earmarked for launch mid-2024 and has the backing of the French state, domestic regional authorities and the EU.

It will entail the construction of two rail freight terminals, in Cherbourg and Bayonne, and the acquisition of Lohr Railway System wagons and loading/unloading equipment.

The year-round service, with one return trip six to seven days a week, will be operated by two trains, each composed of 21 Modalohr UIC wagons with double pockets, allowing 42 trailers to be rolled on and off, using specialised horizontal handling facilities.

The ferry firm added that it was “diversifying its freight offering in response to road haulage and logistics companies looking to reduce CO₂ emissions”.

“Thanks to the support of the French ministry of transport, we are finally able to make these ‘rail motorways’ a reality. The French executive has shown strong and unwavering support for modal shift,” said Brittany Ferries’ president Jean-Marc Roué. “I welcome these political decisions which accelerate the future of low-carbon freight transport.”

With parts of the route not currently electrified, initially the trains will be hauled by diesel locomotives. However, in the future these could be replaced by dual-mode locomotives, further reducing emissions.

Journeys have been scheduled to connect with ferry arrival and departure times, while also avoiding periods of peak road traffic in Cherbourg.

The southbound service will depart Cherbourg at 7.15pm local time, arriving in Bayonne the following day at 11am. The northbound service will depart Bayonne at 7.26pm, arriving at Cherbourg the following day at 11.08am.