News detail

LAUNCH OF RAIL SHUTTLE BETWEEN DUNKIRK AND THE PARIS AREA
22nd september 2011

Navette ferroviaire

On Wednesday 21 September 2011 RAIL LINK EUROPE (RLE) launched a weekly container rail shuttle, with 80 TEU capacity, between Dunkerque-Port's Flanders Terminal and the Bonneuil-Sur-Marne Terminal in the south of the Greater Paris Area.


RLE's aim is to provide a combined transport offer for the many shippers in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. This new link, scheduled to synchronise with the calls of mother ships at Dunkirk and operating overnight, already benefits from a super-simplified customs procedure.

The operator plans very soon to increase the shuttle's frequency to two rotations per week in order to offer a more flexible service.

RLE has assigned the rail traction to EUROPORTE, a subsidiary of the EUROTUNNEL Group.

With a port railway network comprising more than 200 km of tracks and rail traffic in excess of 10 MT in 2010, the port of Dunkirk has long been involved in consolidating these overland transport volumes. This is illustrated particularly by the 52% share of alternative modes in the port's transport links.

This new offer thus represents a new stage in the strategy of extending the hinterland of France's foremost rail port.