The Africa-Europe ro-ro rail service makes provision for ro-ro vessels, operating from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, to dock in Marseille where non-accompanied semi-trailers would be handled at a rail freight terminal close to the quayside and transferred directly on to rail cars, IFW reported.
Trains would leave the port of Marseille for Avignon, feeding into the “rail motorway” service, operated by SNCF Geodis subsidiary Lorry Rail, between Perpignan and Bettembourg, in Luxembourg.
Earlier this year, under the auspices of intermodal freight transport lobby group the Cercle de l’Optimodalité en Europe (COE), a draft agreement was signed by a number of parties interested in the project: Marseille Port Authority (GPMM), LD Lines, SNCF Geodis and investment fund Opticapital SAS.
President of COE Philippe Mangeard said the first trains could enter service during 2013.
The project has also attracted interest from French shipping line CMA CGM, which also operates ro-ro services between North Africa and Marseille, and Luxembourg Railways (CFL) which is planning to expand capacity significantly at its combined transport hub in Bettembourg by 2015.
Lorry Rail operates four times daily from Perpignan and recently announced it was extending the service to southern Sweden.
Frequently hit by strikes, the port of Marseille is the focal point of the project and received a fillip recently when the port workers federation finally approved reform measures paving the way for lasting labour peace on the quaysides.
Trains would leave the port of Marseille for Avignon, feeding into the “rail motorway” service, operated by SNCF Geodis subsidiary Lorry Rail, between Perpignan and Bettembourg, in Luxembourg.
Earlier this year, under the auspices of intermodal freight transport lobby group the Cercle de l’Optimodalité en Europe (COE), a draft agreement was signed by a number of parties interested in the project: Marseille Port Authority (GPMM), LD Lines, SNCF Geodis and investment fund Opticapital SAS.
President of COE Philippe Mangeard said the first trains could enter service during 2013.
The project has also attracted interest from French shipping line CMA CGM, which also operates ro-ro services between North Africa and Marseille, and Luxembourg Railways (CFL) which is planning to expand capacity significantly at its combined transport hub in Bettembourg by 2015.
Lorry Rail operates four times daily from Perpignan and recently announced it was extending the service to southern Sweden.
Frequently hit by strikes, the port of Marseille is the focal point of the project and received a fillip recently when the port workers federation finally approved reform measures paving the way for lasting labour peace on the quaysides.