Trucking pressures raise allure of intermodal
North American rail carriers sense an opportunity to grab market share from truckers besieged by ...
© Paul Wishart
By Stuart Todd
Brittany Ferries’ move into the intermodal freight transport segment, with the launch of a rail freight service linking the Normandy port of Cherbourg and Bayonne-Mouguerre in the Basque country, near the border with Spain, has been hit by further delays.
Dedicated to unaccompanied trailers connecting freight markets in France, the UK, Ireland and Spain, the service was to launch at the end of the month, after administrative delays prevented the running of the first trains at the end of last year.
First announced in April 2022, and financed by Brittany Ferries, the French state, and the regions of Normandy and Nouvelle Aquitaine, the project has entailed the construction of two rail-road terminals.
A spokesperson for the ro-ro operator said the postponement was due to “a delay in the co-ordination process between the different public works and construction groups involved in the project”, meaning the new terminal at Cherbourg could not be ready in time.
“It’s difficult to be precise about when the launch will now take place,” the spokesperson said. “We intend to test out the train path and the commercial offering with a convoy, probably in the second half of May. This will allow us to work with our partners to set a date for the official inauguration of the service before the summer break.”
Each train on the Cherbourg-Bayonne rail freight service will comprise 21 Modalohr wagons with double pockets, allowing 42 unaccompanied trailers to be transported. However, in the first phase of operations, convoys will be limited to 18 wagons (36 trailers) as the full capacity of the Bayonne-Mouguerre terminal will not be available until upgrade works are completed in 2026.
Brittany Ferries said the 900km service would begin with a schedule of three weekly round-trips, rising to five after the ‘launch phase’.
It is expected to replace its ro-ro service for unaccompanied trailers between Bilbao, in northern Spain, and Poole, on the south UK coast.
Comment on this article