CargoBeamer doubles its cross-France piggy-back service

News

An innovative rail-based landbridge service down the spine of France is to double frequency on the back of demand from road operators.

CargoBeamer aims to expand its innovative intermodal service. This is Terminal Roulier Sud in Marseille, France © CargoBeamer press release

CargoBeamer is doubling the frequency of its service on the Calais – Perpignan route. From Saturday, 7 October, the company will offer four weekly round trips instead of two on the 1,400-kilometre route connecting the English Channel port of Calais with Perpignan on the Mediterranean coast in the southeast of France, near the Spanish border.

The innovative service makes it possible for road hauliers to transfer their trailers to rail wagons, and avoid the 1,400km drive to the South of France. CargoBeamer, the operator of the service, is now expanding its operations on the route. The service carries craneable and non-craneable semi-trailers, as well as containers, swap bodies, and specialised trailers such as silo and refrigerated units.

Transit times comparable with road

This modern iteration of the mixed goods train has proved popular with road hauliers. So much so that CargoBeamer is doubling the frequency on Calais-Perpignan Route. The enhanced schedule offers four weekly round trips across France from October. Under the new schedule, trains will depart Calais for southern France every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Calais – Perpignan is 1400km along the spine of France

The transit time between the last drop-off and the first pick-up at the respective terminals is approximately 26 hours. This is comparable with road transport when driver rest periods are taken into account. Return trips from Perpignan are available on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. DB Cargo France continues to serve as the rail traction partner for this route.

British connections and green credentials

CargoBeamer has always been eager to emphasise the environmental advantages of the service. Since launching in the summer of 2021, CargoBeamer’s Calais-Perpignan line has provided a critical link between northern and southern Europe. The Calais terminal, Europe’s first CargoBeamer facility, offers onward rail and sea connections to the UK, northern France, and the Benelux region. At the southern end, Perpignan serves as a gateway to southern France and the industrial region around Barcelona, Spain.

Each train has a capacity of up to 42 units. According to the operator, that equates to a cut in CO2 emissions by an average of 93% per journey compared to road transport. “With an average payload of 18 tons per unit, each departure prevents approximately 47 tons of CO2 emissions,” says CargoBeamer.

Plans other than cover the Continent

Decarbonising freight transport is a significant plank of European political policy. To their commercial benefit, CargoBeamer has addressed this issue, with their own combined transport solution, promoting modal shift from road to rail. The long distance logistics route, crossing France north to south, has proved a high-profile example. After a period of building the market, the route is proving a commercial success for the company.

CargoBeamer operates easy to use terminals around the Continent

“We are thrilled to enhance our offerings in France following a challenging year in 2023,” said Boris Timm, Chief Operating Officer at CargoBeamer. “The Calais-Perpignan connection, bridging the English Channel and the Mediterranean region, has proven to be a dependable route. It allows freight forwarders to transport goods nearly 1,400 kilometres by rail while achieving over 90% CO2 savings. The increased frequency to four round trips per week offers our customers greater flexibility and reinforces our commitment to expanding intermodal solutions for non-craneable semi-trailers in France.”

The CargoBeamer Group currently operates trains in Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom – although loading clearances on most of the UK network restrict the size of loads that can be carried. The company says it is creating a European network of efficient CargoBeamer terminals, connected in fixed timetables with intermodal trains in high frequencies.

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