The Port of Calais has set a new record for combined rail-road transport traffic, driven by the growth in rolling highway services. Last year, 52,203 units – trailers and containers – were handled at the French Channel port’s intermodal terminal, an increase of 14% on 2024.
This performance was driven by continued strong demand on the Calais-Le Boulou (in proximity to the French-Spanish border) route. Moreover, there was a sharp rise in traffic on the route between Calais and the French Mediterranean port of Sète. Both services are operated by SNCF subsidiary VIIA.
The outlook for 2026 looks particularly favourable with VIIA and Naviland Cargo president Bénédicte Colin indicating at the inauguration of the company’s new intermodal terminal in Sète in November last year that six weekly round trips were planned on the route from January 2026, a doubling of the previous number. “This increase in capacity is in response to growing customer demand, particularly from Turkey but also from local customers, to whom we will offer an integrated rail-road solution,” she said.
Sète-Calais rail highway
In 2026, VIIA is targeting the transport of 22,500 semi-trailers and containers between Sète and Calais, rising to 40,000 annually in the longer term. Among VIIA’s partners in the Sète-Calais rolling highway is the Danish shipping company DFDS, which operates six weekly sailings between two Turkish ports and Sète. Another intermodal transport specialist present at Calais is Cargobeamer which operates four weekly round trips to and from the French Med port of Perpignan.