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Long delayed Pyrenees-Calais piggyback truck-train finally gets underway
THE much-vaunted, but long delayed Rail Motorway that carries truck trailers on flat cars between the Pyrenees and northern France with P&O Ferries providing the cross-Channel service, is finally underway.
The new VIIA Britanica piggy-back service, which provides a link to the UK for exporters in the Mediterranean, carried its first unaccompanied truck trailers this week, reports Lloyd's Loading List.
It said the potential of the rail service between Le Boulou, on the Franco-Spanish border, and Calais is estimated to be 40,000 units per year.
The service will initially run one round-trip six days per week between Le Boulou and Calais, using trains that will traverse the length of France to connect the two intermodal terminals in 22 hours.
The trains have the capacity to carry 40 units each and frequency is expected to increase to two round-trips per day later in the spring.
The Port of Calais last year installed a new EUR7 million (US$7.9 million) intermodal rail terminal specifically designed to transfer freight units from the trains onto cross-Channel ferries.
"This initiative is a prime example of the need for seamless rail and sea solutions to ensure that goods can access the United Kingdom from all corners of the continent," said P&O Ferries chief commercial officer Janette Bell.
"London is the biggest city in Europe and Britain's economy is continuing to grow. There are a significant number of exporters of fruit, vegetables and components for production lines who will benefit from this direct link between the Mediterranean and mainland Britain," she said.
P&O Ferries announced in January that it had carried more freight between Dover and Calais in 2015 than in any previous year in its modern history. The company operates 20 vessels that carry more than 2.2 million freight units every year.
The new VIIA Britanica piggy-back service, which provides a link to the UK for exporters in the Mediterranean, carried its first unaccompanied truck trailers this week, reports Lloyd's Loading List.
It said the potential of the rail service between Le Boulou, on the Franco-Spanish border, and Calais is estimated to be 40,000 units per year.
The service will initially run one round-trip six days per week between Le Boulou and Calais, using trains that will traverse the length of France to connect the two intermodal terminals in 22 hours.
The trains have the capacity to carry 40 units each and frequency is expected to increase to two round-trips per day later in the spring.
The Port of Calais last year installed a new EUR7 million (US$7.9 million) intermodal rail terminal specifically designed to transfer freight units from the trains onto cross-Channel ferries.
"This initiative is a prime example of the need for seamless rail and sea solutions to ensure that goods can access the United Kingdom from all corners of the continent," said P&O Ferries chief commercial officer Janette Bell.
"London is the biggest city in Europe and Britain's economy is continuing to grow. There are a significant number of exporters of fruit, vegetables and components for production lines who will benefit from this direct link between the Mediterranean and mainland Britain," she said.
P&O Ferries announced in January that it had carried more freight between Dover and Calais in 2015 than in any previous year in its modern history. The company operates 20 vessels that carry more than 2.2 million freight units every year.
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