Still no trains along renewed rail freight line in southwest France

Public investments for 25 million euros have been spent on renovating a 12.5 kilometre-long rail freight line between Laluque and Tartas, in south-west France. However, since work was completed in August 2023, trains have yet to run on the new track.

The line was closed in March 2019 following the derailment of a freight train which caused significant damage. Rail freight traffic has been transferred to the road since then. Pre-closure, Fret SNCF had been transporting several thousand tonnes of tonnes of ammonia and soda ash on the line to a paper mill in Tartas, currently run by Ryam France.

Another rail traffic flow, since shifted to road, saw short rail operator, OFP-Sud Ouest, hauling shipments of corn on behalf of food co-operative, Maïsadour, to a silo at the port of Bayonne. An estimated 150,000 tonnes of the cereal crop had been scheduled for transport on the line in 2019. Approached by Railfreight.com, no one was immediately available at these companies to respond to questions about their non-use of the renovated line.

Dissatisfaction from the region

Understandably, the absence of traffic has, to say the least, caused a stir at the Nouvelle Aquitaine regional authority which contributed some 17 million euros to the renovation work. Its vice-president, Renaud Lagrave, explained that after the derailment and at the request of shippers, the regional authority had made commitments to rebuild the track.

He went on to claim that on the completion of the work, traffic could have resumed at the end of last year but shippers have not kept their part of the bargain. “The question for them to answer is why have they abandoned rail freight and are now transporting dangerous products by road ?” he told Railfreight.com.

Shippers don’t rule out a return to the train

Maïsadour’s operations director, Yves Condom, told the regional media that, while trucks offered much more room for manoeuvre than trains, the group was mulling a rail project. This focuses on customers chartering trains that would leave a Maïsadour site and cross the renovated line to connect to main lines to northern Europe, he said. This could begin in January and February 2025. Nor has Ryam France ruled out a return to trains for its shipments, but this would require work to restore its own rail infrastructure which serves the Tartas plant.