Carbon 4 asks the right question...



Why rail freight, a low-carbon alternative to road freight,

is not developing more in France?


Low-carbon and safe, rail freight appears to be the ideal mode of transport. However, it is clear that in the medium and long term, rail freight has only declined in France. Currently at 10% modal share (in tonne-km transported) in France, it weighed almost double 20 years ago and could represent up to 75% of the volumes transported in the 1920s!


Rail freight is often in direct competition with road transport and suffers from several disadvantages linked to its guided operation which implies less freedom of movement and alternatives, and a very heavy infrastructure.


We thus note:

  • A sparse network: rail does not provide equal access to the entire territory: you need to have a rail terminal or use combined transport.
  • A more constrained network: rail transport is comparatively less reliable, in fact an incident at one point of the network has repercussions much more quickly on the whole of it. However, regularity and reliability are increasingly strong demands from shippers.
  • A cost structure that makes it less resilient to crises. With a significant share of fixed costs (nearly 80%), rail freight is potentially less resilient to fluctuations in activity.
  • Competition with passenger rail transport, which has priority in the allocation of slots.


However, the poor performance of freight is not inevitable and some European countries are doing much better than France.


This poor performance compared to our neighbours is partly explained by reasons exogenous to rail (e.g.: poor performance of French ports even though combined maritime-rail transport is a major lever in certain countries, deindustrialisation while heavy industries offer massive and regular flows that are well suited to rail freight, etc.). But it is also explained by a legacy in terms of rail policy.


Thus, the French network, built in a star shape around Paris and on a Rhine-Rhône axis, is highly saturated around Paris and Lyon. Above all, the French network is paying the price for an aging network. For example, the average age of railway tracks in France is 33 years, compared to only 17 years in Germany. This reflects a chronic lack of investment: around two times less per capita than in Germany and six times less than in Switzerland.


Thus, increasing the use of trains in France is complex, costly and necessary.

In a context where tonne-kilometres transported in France are only increasing slightly, doubling the share of rail as a % of volumes transported (as the National Rail Strategy aims for) certainly requires significantly increasing the total volume transported by rail but also reducing in absolute terms the total volume transported by road (and not just the share as a %).



To do this, increasing the attractiveness of the train may not be enough: it is also necessary to reduce that of the road, in particular by making it pay more for the cost of its environmental nuisances.

Discover the new update of our file on the

Rhine-Rhone Connection and European Corridor Atlantic Arc Centre Europe

by clicking below



Update of the Rhine-Rhone file



Discover the new map of the Rhine-Rhône / Sillon Lorrain connection project...



A perfect complementarity of the two furrows to open up the South of Lorraine...



Where is our Central Europe Atlantic Arc corridor file as of 10/15/2022?

Interim assessment after eight years of reflection...


Our think tank recently had the opportunity to take stock of the progress of the project with the authorities. We would like to remind the reader that in 2017, during the Public Debate on the Central Europe Atlantic Railway, we had requested as a priority the inclusion of the VFCEA within the route of the future Atlantic Arc - Central Europe corridor. Furthermore, we had brought together a coalition of railway stakeholders to redirect the public debate initially planned for passenger traffic towards freight traffic. In particular, we recommended retaining the P400 gauge instead of the GB1.

IFirst of all, we should warmly salute and thank the State and the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Region for the decisions taken.


Here is the overall situation of the file as of 10/15/2022:

  1. The extension of the Atlantic corridor to Nantes has been completed.
  2. The extension of the Atlantic corridor towards Chagny (VFCEA) has been completed
  3. The P400 template was chosen instead of the GB1
  4. 200 million budget will be dedicated to investments for the VFCEA in 2023


We are pleased that these decisions meet the recommendations of the Public Debate and Alternatrain.


AND NOW WHAT IS LEFT TO DO?


THE RHINE RHÔNE CONNECTION from Chagny to Mulhouse


We would like to point out that the European RTET plan includes the route via Besançon, which is completely unfeasible at P400 gauge, to link Chagny to Mulhouse.

Our think tank recommends that this issue be included in the next CPER. The Chagny Mulhouse section is in fact THE ONLY MISSING LINK IN THE REALIZATION OF THE FUTURE CORRIDOR.


We are therefore renewing our proposal for a route passing through Gray according to the map below:


We therefore recommend that the Rhine-Rhône connection becomes a priority for the authorities.


The presentation file of our proposals can be downloaded HERE


Let's not forget the EURODUAL bimodal traction reference from STADLER, unique on the market...

Development of the Nantes Budapest - Central Europe Atlantic Arc link project




The latest updates to the file...

Latest version of the file here


The route threatened by the greenway project from Gray to Vesoul


Our think tank is delighted with the publication of the 2020/2021 map of rail freight corridors. It now includes the Nantes - Tours route, a missing link disappears in the project; the extensions of corridors 4 and 2 to the East remain.

To be continued...


The junction between Tours and Basel remains to be completed...


For rail freight: road freight in France represents a significant share of CO² emissions.


What if we became aware of this phenomenon and mobilized for the revival of rail freight on the model of our neighbors in Switzerland, Austria and Germany?

Defending the cause of rail freight means committing to the ecological cause and the reduction of CO² emissions, to reducing the risk of accidents in road transport (See the European Corridor and RCEA file), don't forget it!

Our think tank is studying the following topics (June 2021)


- PROPOSALS FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE P400 TEMPLATE ON CERTAIN FRENCH ROADS


- PROPOSALS FOR THE RENEWAL OF CERTAIN NIGHT TRAINS


- MODELING OF THE ROAD/RAIL MODAL REPORT CONCEPT OF THE RCEA / VFCEA


- THE REALIZATION OF THE CLIRR PROJECT (RHIN RHONE INTERMODAL LOGISTICS CHAIN),


- PROPOSALS FOR THE ALSTOM BELFORT FILE,


- THE CONCEPT OF TRANSFER OF STATE/REGIONAL COMPETENCE IN PASSENGER TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT,


- THE PROPOSAL TO EXTEND SEVERAL EUROPEAN FREIGHT CORRIDORS,


- THE DYNAMISATION OF THE OPERATION OF A TOURIST RAILWAY,


For any information, please contact us...

European Freight Corridor File Nantes to Budapest:

Our think tank has been studying this issue for 6 years.

Presentation of the Nantes - Budapest European corridor file

English version



Alternatrain welcomes the positions of the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Region and European Freight Corridors No. 2 and 4





An essential recommendation from ALTERNATRAIN in the context of the public debate:

Opinion No. 54
On the financing of the VFCEA by the EEC

Madam President,

I am very interested to read the content of your newsletter published today. The importance of the freight component of the VFCEA has clearly not escaped the attention of the various stakeholders in the matter.


The letter also addresses the problem of financing the project.

It seems important to me to return to the notion of extending corridors 4 and 2.

Indeed, it seems to me essential to present the file as an element of decongestion of the rail network of the Ile de France. As such, the project would meet objective 3.1 of the European plan to decongest European corridors.


As a direct consequence, the rate of participation of the EEC in the amount of

work could reach 30% and not 20% as is conventional.

I remain at your entire disposal for any further information.

Please accept, Madam, Sir, the expression of my highest consideration.

Denis RINGUET

The VFCEA public debate inquiry commission published its report on May 19.




Consult the final file of the Public Debate by clicking HERE




Edouard Philippe, Prime Minister in 2019, answers our questions:



Reducing the number of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles:

a major challenge for the modal shift of our European corridor project!


The Nantes Budapest European corridor project includes the VFCEA route.

The construction of this freight rail line will make it possible to considerably reduce the risk of accidents on the RCEA, now classified as the most dangerous in France.


The solution: Prioritize rail freight on the VFCEA instead of road freight on the RCEA.


The RCEA is asking the authorities for a financing effort of €1 billion to upgrade the entire route to 4 lanes. However, we already know that it would take a 2x3 lane upgrade to absorb all the daily traffic...


Consult the remarkable FRANCE BLEU file by clicking HERE.


Also watch the poignant report from the TV show "Envoyé spécial" by Elise LUCET on France 2 (March 2017)


Using modal transport also means avoiding the following:


Or this:





Alternatrain visits STADLER on September 21, 2017:




For almost three years now, our think tank has been recommending the use of the dual-mode traction solution for several of its current projects.

The result of the official presentation in France of the EURODUAL CoCo now confirms our choice of equipment.

This unique product offering on the market will in many cases solve the problem of developing a relevant business model for candidate operators.

Likewise for infrastructure investors, the final budget of the projects could be more constrained by avoiding a hypothesis of complete electrification of the routes taken.
January 2018 - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Alsace publishes the new version of its working document RRFF Rhin Rhône Fret Ferroviaire version 18.
This document includes the solution recommended by Alternatrain for the route between Belfort and the Bresse line via Lure, Vesoul and Gray.

Read the file below.
The RRFF V18 file clearly takes a position in defense of our proposal.

Excerpts from the report page 20:

Quote: "It emerged from the discussions that no route was obvious. The importance of Dijon, of the passage through its railway junction, however emerged. Its real capacity remains to be verified. However, hypothesis 3 seems to be the most easily achievable at the lowest cost and without any significant impact on existing traffic during its construction."
January 2018 - The CLIRR file presented to the authorities contributes to the national effort for the development of rail freight and the reduction of the carbon footprint.

Its stakes represent a 0.6% increase in the contribution of rail freight to the national total as well as a decrease of nearly one million tonnes of CO² once the final objective of the file is reached. In addition, it partially resolves the problem of saturation of the crossing of the Lyon rail hub.

Excerpts from the conclusion of the CLIRR file

Quote:

To conclude, we will recall the contributions expected from the project:

1. Creation of the Rhine-Rhône Mediterranean freight junction

2. Reduction of heavy goods vehicle road traffic with the following effects:
a. Reduction of accident risk
b. Significant reduction in carbon footprint
c. Reduction of traffic jams
d. Reduction of noise pollution through river transport

3. Establishment of a relevant logistics chain reducing costs and nuisances through intermodality.

4. Boosting economic activity in the regions crossed.
January 2018 - Our think tank does not accept the conclusions of official reports:

According to the report "Long-term transport demand projections" from the General Commission for Sustainable Development, published in July 2016, the volume of goods transported in France would increase by 1.6% between 2012 and 2030, and 1.1% between 2030 and 2050.

Quote:

Overall, freight transport (road, rail and river) is expected to increase by an average of 2.1% per year. It would thus increase from 304 billion tonne-kilometres (Mt-km) in 2012 to 442 Mt-km by 2030. "This development is taking place with modal shares that are generally unchanged between road, rail and river," the report states. However, heavy goods vehicles are expected to travel with a greater volume of goods than today, leading to a slower increase in heavy goods vehicle traffic (1.4% per year). In 2050, total freight traffic would reach nearly 576 Mt-km.

Alternatrain intends to contribute:

With the increase in alternative modes of freight transport to road transport,

As a consequence:

To the challenges of reducing the CO² footprint,

To increase transport security,

To reduce the nuisances caused by the current unsatisfactory situation (accidents, traffic jams, etc.).

February 2018 - Alternatrain is getting involved in the debate on the SNCF payroll and is making its contribution by publishing its interpretation of the 2010 SNCF payroll below (Source: Institut de l'étude des salaire).

Is it normal that those who drive trains only represent 11.4% of the total wage bill... The debate is open!
January 2018 - With the CLIRR (Rhine Rhône Intermodal Logistics Chain) file, our think tank is currently studying the Mulhouse-Pagny-Lyon-Fos sur Mer link. The file has been submitted to the relevant authorities.

ALTERNATRAIN visits the Technoport of Pagny la Ville on 02/20/18

20-2-18 Our team was welcomed this Tuesday to visit the Technoport of Pagny 21 which is a fundamental link in our study file of the CLIRR Rhin Rhône Intermodal Logistics Chain.

Warm thanks to the authorities of the structure and to Mrs GUILLAUMET for the quality of their welcome.
26-3-18 ALTERNATRAIN is committed to the study of modeling the concept of road/rail modal transfer on the VFCEA / RCEA route.