The French government issued the "National Strategy for the Development of Railway Freight Transport" on September 9. The strategy is mainly based on the plan released by the French railway freight operator alliance 4F Group in June 2020 to increase the market share of railway freight in France from 9%, that is, today's 32 billion ton-kilometers, to close to the EU average of 18% by 2030. The goal of doubling the market share by 2030 is now enshrined in French law, and the government has set a goal of reaching 25% of the market share by 2050.

On September 13, at the annual Transportation and Logistics Innovation Trade Fair (SITL), the Minister of Transport, Mr. Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, strengthened the agreement by signing the Railway Freight Development "Agreement" with Alliance 4F and the Transport User Association AUTF. Railway Infrastructure Manager SNCF Network.

Although Alliance 4F plans to spend 15.7 billion euros, of which 13.3 billion euros will be used for SNCF Network, the government strategy includes much less firm government funds. The halving of freight rail tolls introduced to alleviate the impact of the Covid crisis has been extended for three years at a cost of 170 million euros. Multimodal transport will receive 47 million euros in assistance each year, and 70 million euros in cargo assistance each year. All these measures will be reviewed in 2024.

Three new loading services were confirmed and other routes were sought. At the same time, the government provided 15 million euros in assistance to the new terminals in Paris Sete, Cherbourg, Bayonne and Longis each year. The strategy aims to provide onboard services throughout France by 2030.

SNCF Network will spend 210 million euros to modify its maintenance procedures to completely eliminate production lines that have been shut down due to maintenance and 120 million euros for noise reduction. The infrastructure manager will also promote the gauge enhancement (P400) of major freight routes and the introduction of ERTMS. It will also maintain its updated budget at an average annual level of 2.9 billion euros until at least 2029.

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The government also intends to accelerate the refurbishment of small routes that generate freight, at an annual cost of 10 million euros, with contributions from local authorities and industry partners.Editor/Baohongying