Inauguration of major extension to combined road-rail terminal east of Lyon
This week has seen the inauguration of a major extension to the Venissieux-Saint Priest combined road-rail terminal east of Lyon. The facility is located in proximity to one of Europe's main freight corridors and which has attracted public investment totalling 18.7 million euros. Its owner, SNCF Reseau, said re-development work will make it possible to increase freight train capacity from seven round-trips daily to 10, representing an increase of almost 40 per cent in traffic.
The existing facility was no longer able to absorb new rail freight traffic flows while the extension has also been a response to noise pollution caused by truck traffic affecting a residential area close to the site, France's rail network manager explained. "The project to improve the Venissieux-Saint-Priest combined transport hub demonstrates the State's strong commitment to the development of rail infrastructure and will provide economic operators with new low-carbon, freight transport capacity at the heart of the Lyon conurbation," commented Fabienne Buccio, State Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region. The terminal is connected to the Lyon-Grenoble rail line via the Venissieux marshalling yard, from where trains operate to and from origins/destinations such Marseille, Fos-sur-Mer, Le Havre, Dijon, Strasbourg, Rennes, Tours/Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Dourges as well as Duisburg, in Germany.
It is currently used by two combined transport operators, Naviland Cargo and Novatrans.
European funding
The European Union has contributed 3.2 million euros to the terminal extension which Paloma Aba Garrote, Director of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) said was "an operational application of its (the EU) sustainable and intelligent mobility strategy". The terminal's re-development has included extending three existing rail tracks to 450 metres, the creation of three, new 250-metre tracks, another of 300 metres, the installation of two 2 gantry cranes and a storage area where container handling is served by a mobile crane. Underlining SNCF Reseau's commitment to developing rail freight, Chairman and CEO, Matthieu Chabanel, noted: "It's not for the money: a goods train earns us exactly what it costs, and rates are set by the State transport regulator.
If we like freight, it's because the network's vocation is to be used as much as possible: the more it is used, the more it will contribute to providing solutions to the challenges of climate, energy and addressing traffic congestion in metropolitan areas".
A snapshot of the newly extended terminal. Image: (C) Fabrice Caterini/SNCF ReseauYou just read one of our premium articles free of charge
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References
- ^ See the offer (www.railfreight.com)