Fret SNCF ‘successor’ to provide traction on Rail Route Connect network

The ‘successor’ to Fret SNCF is set to take on its role of traction provider to Rail Route Connect (2RC). This is a French network set up in February 2023 to encourage modal shift to rail on long-haul routes.

The remit of the new company, which will enter service next year, will allow it to carry out capacity management and wagon pooling services, a spokesperson for Rail Logistics Europe confirmed to Railfreight.com. The 2RC network groups several combined road-rail operators across France who handle pre- and post-carriage services using their own resources with traction provided by Fret SNCF.

New service from R2C members

Two of the network’s members, Be Modal and MGE Intermodal, recently jointly launched a new service for swap bodies between Rennes, in Brittany, to a combi terminal in Blainville-sur-l’Eau, located in proximity to Nancy, in eastern France. It departs from a terminal in Rennes every Friday morning and is scheduled to arrive in Blainville the following Monday or Tuesday. Departures in the other direction operate on Tuesdays with arrival at the Rennes terminal on Fridays.

The Rennes service is the third to be launched in the past year to the Blainville terminal. MGE Intermodal operates a service between a terminal near Toulouse, in south-west France, and Blainville and another from the French Basque Country and Lorraine, with two weekly round trips, in association with Mendy-Ederlog, also a member of the 2RC network. Separately, in June this year, Be Modal launched a three-times weekly round-trip service between Rennes and Lille on behalf of Lahaye Global Logistics.

Fret SNCF’s discontinuity

The discontinuity plan for Fret SNCF was implemented by the French government to avoid heavy sanctions from the European Union over suspected illegal State aid. The company has already relinquished more than 20 traffic routes to rivals and axed more than 500 posts. Moreveor, it will be split into two entities, temporarily named New Fret and New Maintenance. The New Fret company will be headed by the current CEO of Fret SNCF, Charles Puech d’Alissac.