The Port of Strasbourg is investing €70m in a new rail freight terminal to double rail traffic over the next decade, as part of a broader €200m investment.
Strasbourg, France’s second-largest inland port, has announced a €70m initiative to establish a new rail freight terminal to double rail traffic from one to two million tonnes annually over the next ten years.
This is part of a broader €200m investment plan spread over a decade, with nearly €25m allocated to improving infrastructure at the port’s tri-modal terminal in Lauterbourg. An additional €5m will be invested in the river terminal.
The managing director of the Strasbourg Port Authority (PAS), Claire Merlin, indicated at a recent press conference that the first phase of the new rail freight terminal’s operations is expected between 2026 and 2027, followed by a gradual increase in capacity.
The terminal is also expected to strengthen the integration of rail and river transport at the port.
In 2023, the Port of Strasbourg handled 6.2 million tonnes of river freight, mainly consisting of construction materials and cereals, reflecting a 2.5% decrease from 2022. Rail freight volumes at the port in 2023 were just under one million tonnes, marking a nearly 20% drop compared to 2022.
PAS attributed the decline to various factors, including strikes on the national rail network in the first quarter of 2023, a general decline in consumption, and rising energy costs.
Additionally, periods of low water on the Rhine in 2018 and 2022 had adversely affected barge traffic.
Despite these challenges, PAS highlighted that the port maintained high-frequency rail shuttles, operating 17 weekly services to Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Dijon/Gevrey-Marseille-Fos.
Source: RailFreight.com
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