A thrice-weekly container train service is now running between the Port of Zeebrugge and Nancy in north east France, potentially opening up a host of new trade links to and from Scandinavia and the UK, and down to Marseille and beyond.

Trains are handled at the C Ro Ports terminal in Zeebrugge’s Britannia dock, which offers daily ferry departures to the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia. Trains also pass through the new CFL (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois Bettembourg) -operated rail terminal in Luxembourg en route to Nancy, which offers daily rail connections to Fos sur Mer in Marseille.

New trade links

Trains run three times a week, with each journey between Zeebrugge and Nancy taking a day. The service is available to all port clients, and includes 45-feet containers, trailers and swap bodies. Logistics and multimodal operator Transport Vigneron, which is running the service, hopes to soon increase the frequency.

Key benefits of the new route include a fast transit time for cargo from the Nancy towards the UK and Scandinavian markets, and also the tonnage advantage when choosing rail over road (44 tonnes is the rail limit, as opposed to 40 tonnes by the road option).