A rail shuttle container service linking the major French ports of Marseille Fos and Le Havre with Switzerland is being launched in mid-March in a joint initiative with intermodal operator Naviland Cargo.

Operating three times per week, the service will run to the Swiss terminal of Chavornay – in the French-speaking region near Lausanne – after connecting rail shuttles from each port at the Dijon Gevrey facility in mid-France.

Currently the French ports handle only a fraction of Switzerland’s box traffic, which has an estimated potential of 350,000 to 400,000 teu per year.  The new service is expected to capture a significant share of the market due to reduced transit times – notably for trades via the Mediterranean served by Marseille Fos and for Le Havre’s traffic with North and South America.

The initiative meets long-awaited demand from logistics professionals and strengthens a strategy encouraged by the French government to extend the port hinterlands beyond national borders into the rest of Europe.  Strong backing for the project has also come from the regional councils of Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and Normandy, which are considering financial support.