A new “rail motorway” service for unaccompanied road trailers between le Boulou in the French Pyrenees and Calais was launched end of March 2016. The new “VIIA Britanica” intermodal service aims to provide a direct link to the UK for exporters in the Mediterranean. It will initially run one round-trip six days per week, increasing to two round-trips per day later in the spring. Trains that have a capacity to carry 40 units each, will travel across the length of France in just 22 hours. The potential of this rail service is around 40,000 units per year.
P&O Ferries reached agreement with the French rail operator VIIA to provide transport across the English Channel for unaccompanied freight arriving in Calais. The number of exporters and importers of fruit, vegetables and components for production lines will benefit from this direct link between Mediterranean and mainland Britain.
Leave a Reply