Launch of Carex high-speed rail project delayed
Project managers play down suggestions that the delay is due to the economic slowndown.
The launch of Euro Carex (Cargo Rail Express) – a pan-European, high-speed rail service for express and air cargo currently handled by truck and aircraft, has been significantly delayed, but the project’s managers have played down suggestions that this is due to the economic slowdown.
The first Euro Carex trains had been earmarked to operate between Paris-CDG and Lyon St Exupery airports from end-March 2012. However, a spokesman for the project told IFW the launch could happen “early in 2015”.
The spokesman blamed “technical issues”, specifically, the work involved in linking the new service to the existing French high-speed rail network.
“The economic crisis has not helped the advancement of the project, but first and foremost, we are at the mercy of legally-binding administrative procedures, which often cannot be completed within the time-frame set, and this is the case here.”
The Carex project was officially endorsed by the French state and forms part of a €7bn national ‘Rail Freight of the Future’ initiative that was unveiled in September 2009.
It will benefit from public finance totalling €170m (US$238m) to fund the construction of terminals at Roissy-CDG and Lyon St Exupery, and rail infrastructure.
Carex also figures prominently in SNCF’s plans to develop a high-speed train offering for freight.
However, it remains unclear who will invest the required €200m to purchase the eight specially adapted trains, each carrying between 100 and 150 tonnes of freight, which would operate the Carex service in the initial phase.
The spokesman said: “Initially, it was thought that the potential customers of the service – express operators and airlines – would provide the funding, but it will now be a pool of rail freight operators.”
Last year, an interest group, GEC Carex, was formed comprising Air France-KLM, FedEx, UPS, TNT, La Poste and WFS. It will give long-term commitments on traffic volumes to transported by Carex, the spokesman added.
The first Euro Carex trains had been earmarked to operate between Paris-CDG and Lyon St Exupery airports from end-March 2012. However, a spokesman for the project told IFW the launch could happen “early in 2015”.
The spokesman blamed “technical issues”, specifically, the work involved in linking the new service to the existing French high-speed rail network.
“The economic crisis has not helped the advancement of the project, but first and foremost, we are at the mercy of legally-binding administrative procedures, which often cannot be completed within the time-frame set, and this is the case here.”
The Carex project was officially endorsed by the French state and forms part of a €7bn national ‘Rail Freight of the Future’ initiative that was unveiled in September 2009.
It will benefit from public finance totalling €170m (US$238m) to fund the construction of terminals at Roissy-CDG and Lyon St Exupery, and rail infrastructure.
Carex also figures prominently in SNCF’s plans to develop a high-speed train offering for freight.
However, it remains unclear who will invest the required €200m to purchase the eight specially adapted trains, each carrying between 100 and 150 tonnes of freight, which would operate the Carex service in the initial phase.
The spokesman said: “Initially, it was thought that the potential customers of the service – express operators and airlines – would provide the funding, but it will now be a pool of rail freight operators.”
Last year, an interest group, GEC Carex, was formed comprising Air France-KLM, FedEx, UPS, TNT, La Poste and WFS. It will give long-term commitments on traffic volumes to transported by Carex, the spokesman added.
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