Twice-weekly rail link from Le Havre to south central France

MARSEILLES-based railway operator Rail Link Europe has started a new freight shuttle service between Le Havre and Chalon-sur-Saone in central France south of Dijon.


Making two return trips a week, the service connects Le Havre's Port 2000 terminals of 'Terminal de France' and 'Terminal Porte-Oceane' with the waterway port of Chalon Sud.


"This new service illustrates the dynamic growth phase of the port of Le Havre as regards the development of multimodal transport services. This dynamic move will continue in 2013 with the coming-on-stream of the new Multimodal Terminal," a statement from Le Havre port authorities said.


Also in March, the railway operator increased the frequency of rail freight services between Le Havre and Lyons to three times a week, as well as providing an additional weekly return trip to Marseilles.


The new Le Havre and Chalon-sur-Saone service follows the opening of the railway junction in "La Breque " in December 2010, and this January's launch of an express rail freight shuttle service between Le Havre and the KTL terminal in Ludwigshafen in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in south-west Germany via Strasbourg.


The service through Strasbourg doubles the frequency of rail shuttles between the port terminals in Le Havre and the Port of Strasbourg.


The stepping up of rail freight services between the port of Le Havre and inland destinations is designed to attract greater cargo volumes for a port that has the capacity to handle six million TEU annually, but only handled 2.4 million standard 20-foot containers in 2010, an increase of five per cent compared to the previous year.


Hinterland trade accounted for 1.8 million TEU last year, with rail and river container traffic contributing 16 per cent to hinterland traffic, while the remainder was transported inland by road.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)