Most of the cargo that is unloaded or unloaded at the port of Dunkirk is transported by road to the final destination. However, in the years to come, The role of the river, especially the railways, will increase significantly due to environmental and economic reasons. Due to the environment, CO2 emissions from a freight train are 14 times lower than by road. And profitable, because this mode of transport would allow the port of Dunkirk to expand its hinterland, i.e. its catchment area, much larger than the Houtes-de-France region.

A piggyback terminal by 2023

To do this, the port of Dunkirk has a large asset: A rail network already established about a hundred kilometers away Owned (sixty electrified) owns since 2008 and terminals with 22 rail branches It allows the handling of 11 million tons of cargo using this mode of transport, Including a large portion of grains. An asset that prepares to expand the network at container and cross-channel terminals and integrate ports. “We support a major development axis on Ro-Ro (accompanying and non-accompanying trailers) Way Cross-channel and container to Ireland and Great Britain, Explains Maurice Georges, chairman of the Dunkirk Port Management Board. However, despite the railway line at the terminal, many containers leave the port by truck. But it is very small, and in its entirety, it is defective for the reception of long trains intended for integrated transport, i.e. combining rail, river and road at the same time as the destination of the goods to reach the final destination. .⁇

12 12 million as part of the recovery plan, eight of which are funded by the state, so the port is currently investing, Allowing the installation of integrated trains to bring the length of the railway tracks to 850 m and thus to achieve the loading capacity of four complete trains. Delivery of these new devices should take place by the end of the first quarter of 2022, while container traffic is currently running at 700,000 boxes for the year 2021 alone, breaking records.Therefore, it is also an investment intended to support the massive development of the container in Dunkirk., Maurice Georges explains.

By 2023, with the same vision, A dozen million euros would have to be invested in the development of a piggyback terminal Near the cross-channel terminal. “The idea is to load as many trucks as possible from Ireland or Great Britain into wagons and take them to their final destination., Maurice Georges explains. It is a mode of transport destined to grow strongly in the coming years.In 2022, a call for interest will be launched to select the operator company for this future piggyback terminal.