High speed freight

[John Ashworth]

High-speed freight trains on track after trial run to UK

Evening Standard
Lucy Tobin
21 March 2012

The first-ever high-speed freight train between France and the UK arrived in St Pancras this morning, in a trial run that could herald the future of European goods delivery.

The Euro Carex consortium sent a train from Lyon at 16.45 yesterday, carrying the equivalent of 120 tonnes of parcels. After stopping to load extra cargo at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport, then travelling via the Channel Tunnel, it drew into St. Pancras at 1.24 this morning.

“This test demonstrates the efficiency, speed and environmental benefits of an intermodal transportation system combining air containers and high-speed rail network,” said Euro Carex.

The group is a consortium of European transport and infrastructure companies including Air France, Eurotunnel, the French-state owned train operator SNCF, High Speed One, and logistics firms including UPS-TNT, FedEx and

La Poste. The only UK involvement is through British shareholders in London-listed Eurotunnel.

“Euro Carex offers a potential solution to the... rise in fuel prices, road congestion and environmental constraints which limit the number of night flights,” the company said.


Demonstration high speed freight train links Lyon and London

21 March 2012
Railway Gazette

EUROPE: The vision of a network of high speed freight trains carrying express parcels and other premium consignments across Europe moved a step closer on March 21, when a demonstration train from Lyon Saint-Exupéry and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airports arrived at London's St Pancras International station.

The trial run was organised by members of the EuroCarex consortium, which includes SNCF, Eurotunnel, Air France, the French post office La Poste, FedEx and airport operators in Paris, Amsterdam, Liège and Lyon. The UK element was co-ordinated by Eurotunnel subsidiary GB Railfreight and High Speed 1 Ltd, which holds the concession to operate the high speed line between London and the Channel Tunnel. Loading and unloading was handled by SNCF Geodis subsidiary Geoparts Rail Solutions.

The aim is to start commercial services in 2017, with a London terminal probably located near Barking. Discussions are underway with Alstom and Siemens for a fleet of 25 trainsets.

Operations would start with premium express traffic, but the consortium envisages that it could be expanded to handle more traditional freight in future.

The original Cargo Rail Express project was launched in 2006, following a UIC-led study into the European express freight market. In 2008 the reformed EuroCarex consortium signed a memorandum of agreement aiming to start commercial services in March 2012, and opened negotiations to acquire an initial fleet of eight dedicated high speed freight trains at a cost of €625m. These were to be designed to carry modular loads similar to airfreight containers, but the project was delayed by the economic downturn.

In the absence of dedicated rolling stock, the demonstration run to London was operated by set 951, one of the three dedicated TGV trainsets which La Poste has been using to carry mail between Paris, Mâcon and Cavaillon since 1984. This has a capacity for 120 tonnes of parcels, equivalent to seven articulated lorries or seven Boeing 737 aircraft.

The train left Lyon Saint-Exupéry at 16.42 on March 20, arriving at St Pancras the next morning following a stop to load extra cargo at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle.

Greeting the arrival of the train in London, French MP and EuroCarex Chairman Yanick Paternotte said 'I am delighted that today's test over the European high speed rail network clearly shows the interest which strategic players in the logistics field - airports as well as rail operators - have in linking their infrastructures to key European economic centres.'

EuroCarex believes that its Express Rail network of high speed freight trains could provide next-day delivery between European hubs with a carbon footprint lower than the current mix of air and road, offering a viable alternative to rising fuel prices and the environmental constraints which limit the number of night flights.


High speed freight train from Lyon to St Pancras

Modern Railways
21/03/12

Euro Carex has tested a high-speed freight train between Lyon St Exupéry airport and St. Pancras International Station in London, travelling via Paris Charles De Gaulle airport and the Channel Tunnel. This test demonstrates the efficiency, speed and environmental benefits of an intermodal transportation system combining air containers and high-speed rail network, says the company.

The high-speed freight train number 27274 (which has a potential load of 120 tonnes of parcels equivalent to 7 articulated trucks) left Lyon-St Exupéry airport on Tuesday, 20 March at 16:42. It arrived at St. Pancras International Station in London on 21 March travelling on High Speed One, via the Channel Tunnel, having previously stopped to load additional cargo at Roissy (Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport).

The Express Rail Euro Carex operation could, in time, be connected to the trans-continental distribution network for next-day delivery with a lower carbon footprint lower than air and road transportation. The express freight business could also be complemented by traditional freight and road freight.

This achievement has been made possible by a seamless coordination between the main European airports which are members of Euro Carex (Paris – CDG, Amsterdam, Liège and Lyon), the infrastructure managers (Eurotunnel, High Speed One and the manager of the French railway network Réseau Ferré de France) the operators (SNCF and Europorte) and their carriers (Air France KLM Cargo Martinair Cargo, Chronopost International, Dimotrans, FedEx Express, Géodis, Geopost, TNT, WFS). The company said ‘Euro Carex is a project on a truly European scale and it is part of Eurotunnel’s strategy to promote the use of the Channel Tunnel for the transfer of freight between the UK and continental Europe.

Euro Carex offers a potential solution to the continuous rise in fuel prices, road congestion and environmental constraints which limit the number of night flights’.


High-speed freight on a high-speed railway

David Badger | Wed, 21 Mar 2012
ifw

The TGV now arriving at St Pancras launches faster rail freight services between London and mainland Europe

The arrival of an SNCF TGV freight train at St Pancras today marked the launch of high-speed, electrically-powered rail freight services between London and mainland Europe.

The arrival was the culmination of a five-year plan for promoting freight on the high-speed rail route, HS1, and has led to the start of a new rail freight service between London and Poland, with more to follow.

A fleet of TGVs (trains á grande vitesse – high-speed trains) has been in operation in France since 1984, operating at speeds of up to 270kph.

While the TGVs would be too large for normal UK rail lines, the opening of HS1 enables them to be operated right through to London.

Proposals by Euro Carex for a new fleet of high-speed freight trains will shrink journey times for time-sensitive, high-value and perishable products, including mail and parcels, internet shopping and fresh produce.

A package sent from London could be in Paris or Brussels within three hours; fruit and vegetables picked in Southern France in the morning could be delivered into East London in the evening, ready for the shelves the following day – a 50% reduction in surface transit times by road.

Nick Gallop, MD of rail freight consultant Intermodality, said: “While such services will be a niche product in the freight market, we estimate these trains could generate demand for up to half a dozen services a day to and from the London area, with the prospect of extending services along HS2, if suitable links with HS1 can be provided.

“The UK is once more playing catch-up, as the TGV train in London today has been in operation on French high-speed lines for nearly thirty years without incident.”

But he added: “Now that UK companies have a taste of the potential, we look forward to the start of similar regular services from the London area in the coming years.”