‘Unprecedented’ removal and repair operation

The service had been operating five weekly round-trips when a train composed of 17 Modalohr-type wagons  derailed on a section of the Cherbourg-Caen rail line just 50 kilometers into its journey of almost 1,000 kilometres. Cleanup operations were described at the time by SNCF Réseau as an operation “of unprecedented scale in France” and one which mobilised a team of 100 engineers and technicians.

Major repairs of the track and rail infrastructure followed. In total, putting the line back in working order was estimated to have cost 10 million euros. Brittany Ferries introduced a backup solution during the two month hiatus in the combi service. It consisted of operating a freight-only ferry service between Poole, in south-west England and Bilbao.

Increase in frequencies

The derailment was an untimely blow to a service inaugurated as recently as July 2025. It raised fears that the company risked losing its ‘combi’ customer base and that other road hauliers would be deterred from considering a modal shift from truck to train. However, the service has resumed with six departures weekly from Cherbourg and seven from Bayonne/Mouguerre – an increase in the number of frequencies operated pre-derailment.

So far, eight of the 17 derailed wagons and 15 of 34 semi-trailers were recovered. The situation is a little more complicated for the remaining ones, as they are located near a rail bridge. This operation should be completed by mid-February, allowing for the restart of traffic along one track, according to the French IM.

Six weeks until full reopening

Six weeks later, at the end of March, the full line should be back in full operation. Throughout this time, SNCF Réseau’s workers will be quite busy. They’ll have to completely rebuild the line along 530 metres, replace four catenary posts, 1,250 metres of overhead line and a switch and reinforce the infrastructure for 700 metres. These operations will involve 40 operators and three trains.

If passengers will get replacement bus services between Cherbourg and Lison, Brittany Ferries had to think outside the box to keep freight moving. The goods, which usually reach Cherbourg from the UK via ferry and then the French Basque Countries by rail, will simply continue their sea journey to Bilbao. This service is supposed to last at least until the end of January, Brittany Ferries said. It remains to be seen whether the new reopening schedule will change their plans.

It covers a distance of almost 1,000 kilometers and operates five weekly return trips. Each train is currently composed of 18 Modalohr-type wagons with double pockets, allowing 36 unaccompanied trailers to be transported and loaded and unloaded using specialised horizontal handling facilities. However, capacity is expected to increase to 21 wagons (42 trailers) in 2026.

Expansion plans

Earlier this month, Brittany Ferries’ confirmed to RailFreight.com that it was looking to expand the range of goods the rail highway was transporting, one potential market being perishables shipments between Spain and the UK to stimulate. “We are counting on the fruit and vegetable export season, which runs from mid-October to the end of May, to the UK,” Fabrice Turquet, commercial director for the Iberian market at Brittany Ferries, underlined. There are also plans to handle hazardous goods, in the first instance, small quantities of cosmetics and perfumes.

In total, the six weekly round trips add up to 24,000 trucks removed from France’s roads annually. There are around 50,000 trucks that pass through the Cherbourg port each year. It also saves on 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. “It demonstrates how rail freight offers a credible and concrete alternative to road transport, even on domestic flows”, Captrain says.

Connecting markets

The rail highway project between Cherbourg and Bayonne was first unveiled in early 2020. After years of planning, infrastructure upgrades, and pandemic-related delays, the service is now underway. It connects France’s Atlantic corridor with key ferry ports serving the UK, Ireland and Spain.

In order to make this service a reality, France had to install two new rail-road terminals at both ends of the routes. Moreover, the Port of Cherbourg needed a renewed connection to the national network, after a 20-year hiatus.

Port of Cherbourg

In the case of the Port of Cherbourg, collaboration with ro-ro ferry operator Brittany Ferries, has led to the impending launch of a ‘rolling highway’ linking the Normandy port to Bayonne-Mouguerre, near the border with Spain. The service has entailed the construction of two new, dedicated combined rail-road terminals. It will operate year-round and offer several weekly departures from Cherbourg and Bayonne-Mouguerre.
The service is expected to replace Brittany Ferries’ ro-ro shipping service for unaccompanied trailers between Bilbao, in northern Spain, and Poole, on the southern coast of England.

HAROPA Ports

Staying in Normandy, HAROPA Port, in charge of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris ports, is a prime mover in developing train-borne freight services with 100 weekly round-trips to 21 domestic and international destinations. At its request, combined road-rail freight transport operator Be Modal, a subsidiary of Lahaye Global Logistics, is mulling the launch of a service for maritime containers between Rennes, in Brittany and Le Havre, France’s biggest box port, possibly in 2026.

HAROPA Port’s rail freight traffic totalled almost 7 million tonnes last year, an increase of 3.4 per cent on the previous year. In 2025, the overall operational target is for road share to fall to 77 per cent, with rail and river share rising to 12 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

Port of Marseille-Fos

Turning to the Port of Marseille-Fos, forging closer links with rail companies and logistics players is more of a challenge. Intermodal solutions group Modalis abandoned its plan to build a combined transport terminal at the hub. The project, named Tonkin Terminal Multimodal, had not progressed since its announcement in 2022, despite initial plans for a 2023 launch with potential customer Elengy, a specialist in liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Meanwhile, the Port of Marseille is working with SNCF Réseau on a project to develop combined transport. The project involves nearly 60 million euros of public investment and encompasses urban development and new terminals in Marseille and Miramas. In 2024, the modal share of rail for container traffic at the Fos terminals exceeded 17 percent, an 8 percent increase in train-borne box traffic.

Port of Sète

Still in southern France, west of Marseille, the Port of Sète will inaugurate a new rail freight terminal later this year, which has attracted an investment of 20 million euros. In November 2023, along with the Port of Calais, it became part of a sea-rail corridor established by rolling highway operator VIIA, a subsidiary of Rail Logistics Europe (SNCF Group), and Danish ro-ro shipping and logistics company DFDS, connecting Turkey with the UK.

Port of Dunkirk

Moving to northern France, the Port of Dunkirk is poised to launch construction on a combined transport terminal. This facility will enable trailers and swap bodies to be loaded onto rail wagons. The facility is scheduled to enter service early next year, and its management and operation have been put out to tender.

Intermodal transport services from the port’s container terminal already offer a range of connections with the main freight hubs in northern and southern France. Moreover, last year, CEVA Logistics began operations at its new finished vehicle logistics (FVL) hub at the Port of Dunkirk. The hub has a rail spur and connects to maritime import and export trade flows to and from the northern French maritime gateway.

“It’s difficult to be precise about when the launch will now take place. But in any case, we intend to test out the train path and the commercial offering with a convoy running probably in the second half of May. This will allow us to work with our partners and decide on a date for the official inauguration of the service before the summer break.”

In partnership with Modalohr

Connecting freight markets in France, the UK, Ireland and Spain, the Cherbourg-Bayonne rolling highway project was first announced in April 2022. It has entailed the construction of two combined rail-road terminals. Each train will be composed of 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 attained until upgrade works are completed in 2026. The project has been financed by Brittany Ferries, the French state and the regions of Normandy and Nouvelle Aquitaine.

More specifically, the trial run will check viability of the route as well as the functioning of switches and the equipment deployed. The new service will see the involvement of Ports de Normandie, which manages the Cherbourg Port, Brittany Ferries, semi-trailer specialist Modalohr and the country’s infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau.

The test train ran from the port of Cherbourg to the Cherbourg-en-Cotentin in 30 minutes, running at lower speeds. The return test journey is taking place today, 11 December. Once the service is active, it will only take 10 minutes to link the two points. The test convoy was made up of 21 wagons, enabling the transport of 42 semi-trailers, for a total length of 750 metres. Initially, Cherbourg and Bayonne will be connected with three weekly roundtrips, with a plan to increase it to five.

Regular rail freight back after 20 years

Ports de Normandie and the Cherbourg Port also financed the construction of a new terminal at the port with 17.5 million euros. Another 19 million euros for the facility came from the European Commission. Moreover, the former contributed to funding the renovation of the railway with 2.4 million euros, with one additional million coming from the French state.

Regarding the next steps, Ports de Normandie specified that the last works and test runs at the new terminal will take place until 20 December. Tests along the whole 1000-kilometre line are planned for mid-March 2025, with the regular service reportedly starting by the end of that month. This new initiative will be a significant milestone for the port of Cherbourg, which has not seen regular rail freight services in almost 20 years.

The proposed service, connecting freight markets in France, the UK, Ireland and Spain, was first announced in April 2022. The plain also entailed the construction of two new dedicated combined rail-road terminals. Operating year-round, the service will offer daily departures from both Cherbourg and Bayonne-Mouguerre.

From sea to rail

Each train will be composed of 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 attained until upgrade works are completed in 2026. The initiative is financed by Brittany Ferries, the French state and the regions of Normandy and Nouvelle Aquitaine.

The executive said that since 2016 Brittany Ferries has chartered a ro-ro vessel for unaccompanied trailers between Bilbao, in northern Spain, and Poole, on the southern coast of England, operating twice-weekly round trips. “The aim of the rail service is to transfer the trailers which currently take the vessel on to trains. While you can load more trucks on ro-ro ships, they can take 48 hours for a round trip, whereas two trains can be operated during that period, therefore offering more capacity.

Cherbourg-Bayonne rolling highway

Ferry operator Brittany Ferries announced the launch of the rolling highway service in April 2022, with the aim of linking freight markets in France, the UK, Ireland and Spain. It is marketed as a sustainable freight transport solution, taking up to 30,000 trucks off the road on an annual basis, resulting in a reduction of 20,000 tonnes of CO2. The year-round service, with one return trip six to seven days a week, will be operated by two trains, each composed of 21 Modalohr wagons with double pockets, allowing 42 trailers to be rolled on and off, using specialised horizontal handling facilities.

The rolling highway will be served by two dedicated terminals. The construction of the Cherbourg facility has attracted public investment of more than 17 million euros. At the end of last year, the European Union approved French state aid to Brittany Ferries totalling 19 million euros for the construction of a rail freight terminal at Bayonne-Mougerre.

There are reports that a number of Basque environmental associations have voiced concerns that when the trailers are unloaded from trains at the Bayonne-Mougerre terminal and transferred onto trucks (and vice versa) they will be adding to existing road congestion at the Biriatou border crossing between France and Spain – which is already seeing up to 10,000 HGVs a day at peak times. They claim this will have a serious impact on air quality and noise levels.

Extending to Spain?

A longer-term aim is to extend the rolling highway beyond Bayonne to Vitoria in Spain. With trains carrying unaccompanied trailers requiring a larger gauge than those loaded with containers, several tunnels on the route between Cherbourg and Bayonne-Mougerre will need to be recalibrated. SNCF Réseau has committed 52 million euros over a three-year period to work on upgrading four tunnels on the Poitiers-Angoulême-Bordeaux section. Until it is completed, trains would be diverted via Niort and Saintes with convoys likely to be significantly shorter in length.

Detailed studies are now underway for Phase 2, the route of the new line having been chosen this Spring. However, no information has been disclosed on when construction work is due to start nor the timeframe for its completion, only that it will offer the possibility to triple rail freight traffic from three to four trains daily today to up to 15 round-trip trains daily by 2040.

Not only Calais

SNCF Réseau is also working with the Port of Marseille on a project attracting public investment of almost 60 million euros and encompassing urban development and the creation of new terminals, in Marseille and Miramas, to develop combined transport.

Another example of collaboration is with the Port of Cherbourg and Brittany Ferries on the creation of a rail motorway between Cherbourg and the Basque country, which should be launched next year, Chabanel noted. “I’m a great believer in rail motorways”, he continued, highlighting the trains operating between Perpignan and Luxembourg or Calais which cover distances of approximately 1,000 kilometers. “These rail motorways represent a significant proportion of goods traffic in France and which are proving very popular with road hauliers.”

SNCF Réseau is also driving the development of new ‘inland’ rail infrastructure to facilitate the growth of freight traffic, such as the bypass around the Lyon conurbation. “Today, all rail freight coming up from the Rhône Valley or Spain passes through the middle of Lyon’s main Part-Dieu railway station, one of the busiest in France,” Chabanel observed.

“The project to bypass the Lyon conurbation by rail is therefore of crucial importance. We have submitted an application to the European Commission, with the support of local and other public authorities, to finance the preliminary studies for the northern section (of this rail bypass).” In the meantime, one near-term project is the development of combined transport hub at Vénissieux, in the suburbs of Lyon.