Paris’ second biggest river port, Bonneuil-sur-Marne, has posted record freight traffic thanks to strong growth in rail-borne shipments, which almost doubled, rising from 491,000 tonnes in 2023 to 960,000 tonnes last year.
The surge in rail freight at Bonneuil compares with river-borne freight traffic, which increased slightly to 1.2 million tonnes. It can be partly attributed to the growing activity of Cinérites Transport Logistique (CTL), the freight forwarding arm of French quarry operator Carrières de l’Ouest.
Last year, CTL inaugurated a multimodal freight terminal at the inland port, located on a site owned by Haropa Port, a public sector structure that groups the ports of Le Havre, Rouen, and Paris. The facility is connected to the railway network and also has wide-gauge river access.
CTL unveiled plans to transport Carrières de l’Ouest aggregates from Voutré, near Le Mans, in western France, using five trains per week, thereby reducing road freight traffic volumes by the equivalent of 9,400 trucks annually. Shipments are bound for construction sites in the Greater Paris region. Return journeys carry excavated materials to be used as landfill.
Expanded connections
Another company that regularly uses the port’s railhead is Bonneuil Transport Multimodal, which operates two 850-metre trains daily to Avignon and Miramas, via Paris-Valenton.
“Rail traffic has potential, and the demand is there. Today, we can bring in Italian tiles and send them by train to Le Mans,” Eric Fuchs, director of the Seine upstream branch of Haropa Port, told French media. In 2024, Bonneuil handled 1,441 trains, representing a 17% increase from the previous year.
Gennevilliers link adds weekly container flows
In a separate development, since earlier this Spring, Carrières de l’Ouest has been operating a new rail freight service between Voutré and Gennevilliers, the French capital’s biggest river port.
Each week, a train loaded with 50 containers makes the journey, carrying 1,500 tonnes of bulk materials to be used in construction projects.
Once emptied, the containers return to Voutré loaded with site rubble or other types of freight. This new service is scheduled to run until November 2025.