Work is nearing completion to link the Port of Cherbourg to France’s national rail network ahead of the launch of a rolling highway service for unaccompanied trailers, running between the Normandy port and Bayonne. Public investment totalling four million euros has focused on the upgrade of a 2.5-kilometre section of track with the installation of additional points for access to the port and the renewal of sleepers and ballast.

The work, which began in May this year and is scheduled for completion by the end of this month, has been overseen by the French rail network manager, SNCF Réseau. It has been almost 20 years since the railway line linking the Port of Cherbourg to the national rail network has seen regular freight traffic. Toyota cars were transited by ro-ro carrier from the UK to Cherbourg before being transferred onto trains for distribution in Europe.

Cherbourg-Bayonne rolling highway

Ferry operator Brittany Ferries announced the launch of the rolling highway service in April 2022, with the aim of linking freight markets in France, the UK, Ireland and Spain. It is marketed as a sustainable freight transport solution, taking up to 30,000 trucks off the road on an annual basis, resulting in a reduction of 20,000 tonnes of CO2. The year-round service, with one return trip six to seven days a week, will be operated by two trains, each composed of 21 Modalohr wagons with double pockets, allowing 42 trailers to be rolled on and off, using specialised horizontal handling facilities.

The rolling highway will be served by two dedicated terminals. The construction of the Cherbourg facility has attracted public investment of more than 17 million euros. At the end of last year, the European Union approved French state aid to Brittany Ferries totalling 19 million euros for the construction of a rail freight terminal at Bayonne-Mougerre.

There are reports that a number of Basque environmental associations have voiced concerns that when the trailers are unloaded from trains at the Bayonne-Mougerre terminal and transferred onto trucks (and vice versa) they will be adding to existing road congestion at the Biriatou border crossing between France and Spain – which is already seeing up to 10,000 HGVs a day at peak times. They claim this will have a serious impact on air quality and noise levels.

Extending to Spain?

A longer-term aim is to extend the rolling highway beyond Bayonne to Vitoria in Spain. With trains carrying unaccompanied trailers requiring a larger gauge than those loaded with containers, several tunnels on the route between Cherbourg and Bayonne-Mougerre will need to be recalibrated. SNCF Réseau has committed 52 million euros over a three-year period to work on upgrading four tunnels on the Poitiers-Angoulême-Bordeaux section. Until it is completed, trains would be diverted via Niort and Saintes with convoys likely to be significantly shorter in length.