Following an agreement with the Calais municipality, CargoBeamer’s affiliate CargoBeamer France SAS (WorldCargo News, November 2014, p14) has acquired a 6-ha parcel in the La Turquerie industrial estate, alongside the A16 motorway that feeds into both Calais port and the Getlink (Eurotunnel) terminal at Calais Fréthun. 

The security requirements, in the light of the clandestine migrants issue, have not been reported. The VIIA terminal has the advantage of being located inside the port, but, clearly, this is not convenient for Getlink customers.

Natacha Bouchart, Calais’ mayor, president of Grand Calais Terre et Mers, and a VP of the Hauts de France region, said: “The agreement for the new CargoBeamer terminal is a great step for Calais and the region towards environmentally friendly and quieter cargo transport by rail.”

According to Dr Hans-Jürgen Weidemann, CEO of CargoBeamer AG, the new terminal will reduce the burden on roads and the environment throughout Europe. “Our new contract is a special milestone in the development of a European network with efficient handling facilities and environmentally friendly transport routes for logistics companies in Europe,” he said.  “It should relieve the road network in Europe and the environment at the same time.”

It is understood that 18 automated CargoBeamer GateModules will be installed, with a capacity to transfer horizontally up to 900 road trailers per day between rail and road. In addition, all CargoBeamer wagons are equipped with loading palettes that can be placed underneath non-craneable trailers so they can be lifted on/off the wagons by crane or reach stacker.

Calais accounts for around 8,000 accompanied truck transports per day, via Getlink or the ferries. Together with VIIA, the CargoBeamer facility turns Calais into a rail-road transfer hub for British o/d traffic. Their offer assuages the driver shortage problem and, in the Brexit context, introduces a much-needed buffer, but their success depends on the availability and reliability of freight paths.

It is thought that CargoBeamer will initially focus on services linking Calais with destination/origin terminals in the eastern part of Germany and Poland.

Providing an east-west link over Calais enables CargoBeamer to avoid competition with VIIA on the north-south route. Furthermore, as only a short run is required to access the Belgian border, France’s traditional reluctance to admit non-French freight car designs on French rail tracks is largely bypassed. 

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This complete item is approximately 500 words in length, and appeared in the August 2018 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 12. To access this issue download the PDF here.