Getting the goods and materials Europeans need to survive to destination using container transport is an expensive, and profitable business, if you can do the job in a timely and efficient manner. The French channel port of Dunkirk recently put a smile on the faces of officials at Eurotunnel as the firm announced that Eurotunnel would be the new operator for its company rail network for the next seven years, with an option for an extra four years should both parties agree.
The deal should put about $36 million American into the coffers of Eurotunnel, after unforseen costs, and expenses, but could be worth far more in terms of business connections and other considerations for Eurotunnel. The opportunity for other business deals and relationships might turn out to be far more valuable for Eurotunnel in the years ahead.
Eurotunnel should be able to just step into the role as they have years of experience operating similar lines and currently operate the terminal at Calais, a 30 km hop and skip away from the rail line of the port of Dunkirk.
The deal is partly being driven by the French governments desire to use rail as a sustainable form of freight transport and this can be seen in the growth of rail in and around the port of Dunkirk. Presently they’re constructing new rail infrastructure and preparing to use rail more and more as part of their plan to use intermodal transfer services to enhance rail freight transport in the port of Dunkirk beyond the 15 million tonnes it has been moving each year.
How will this affect the trucking transport industry of Europe? This is a good question that the European owner-operator trucking industry and road freight transport firms will be asking themselves. The French road trucking industry has been pretty quiet about the situation, so maybe they don’t think it will mean much to them.
Rail is normally better for moving freight long distances and in large amounts, while road freight transport generally deals with shorter routes and smaller loads and this hasn’t changed. There are goods that need to be transported by truck in Europe and while the need exists the trucks will continue to move along the roads.
http://www.portdedunkerque.fr/jahia/webdav…tunnel%20GB.pdf
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