The transport of goods by train is reviving.

Prime Minister Jean Castex and Minister of Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari announced on Monday the next reopening of the Rungis-Perpignan freight line, on the occasion of a trip to Limoges on the recovery plan.

This line, which should reopen "mid-October", according to the minister's entourage, is part of the government plan of one billion euros by 2024 for the development of rail freight.

"We will present the 2022 finance law where we will announce the extension of a certain number of aid for freight," added Jean Castex.

Opening up as a goal

Coming to praise the recovery plan, the head of government stressed that "half of the 100 billion planned" had already been committed and that the objective was "to be at 70% by the end of 2021". “We have illustrated here the rail component of this recovery plan, which is an extremely active component for freight, for the reopening of night trains, for the reopening of small lines or the safeguarding of small lines and then for the opening up of metropolises like Limoges ”, he underlined.

In December, the government launched a call for expressions of interest for the resumption of the “train des primeurs”, a link between Perpignan and Rungis which had been stopped since the summer of 2019. “The health crisis has underlined the absolute necessity of disposing of food supply circuits that are fast, efficient and sustainable ”, then put forward the Ministry of Transport.

The date of October 18 confirmed to the CGT

The link had been suspended for lack of customers, the dilapidation of the wagons then being widely questioned.

This line connects the Saint-Charles International platform in Perpignan, the leading fruit and vegetable marketing, transport and logistics center in Europe, to the Rungis market in Val-de-Marne, the largest fresh produce market in the world.

It represents "a traffic of about 9,000 trucks per year", according to the ministry.

"The announcement of the circulation of the Perpignan-Rungis train on October 18 has been confirmed to us for several months", for his part noted the secretary general of the CGT-Cheminots, Laurent Brun.

He nevertheless criticizes "the logic of calls for tenders and competition" considered as "an obstacle to the development of public rail service".

Rail Logistics Europe winner

Rail Logistics Europe (RLE), which brings together Fret SNCF and the other European freight subsidiaries of SNCF, is the winner of the call for expressions of interest.

Its offer will combine the early bird train and container transport on the rail motorway along the Le Boulou-Gennevilliers axis.

The Perpignan-Rungis will be made up of 12 wagons and will run from November to mid-July at the rate of five weekly connections, with a departure from the Pyrénées-Orientales prefecture at 4.30 p.m. for an arrival in Rungis scheduled for 3.15 a.m.

Economy

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  • Limousin

  • Limoges

  • Jean Castex

  • Languedoc-Roussillon

  • Rail

  • Rungis

  • Perpignan

  • Freight

  • Economy