A senior industry executive has called for lessons to be learned and action to be taken in the light of the severe disruption to freight train services between France and Spain in recent weeks.
DB Cargo France’s president and CEO, Alexandre Gallo, told RailFreight.com in an interview that the whole episode had highlighted the “vulnerability” of the Perthus Tunnel, through the Pyrenees when situations of this kind occur.
Traffic was at a near-standstill on the route over a period of around a fortnight, stretching from late January to early February. This followed the closure of the Rubí Tunnel, near Barcelona, as a result of extreme weather conditions which caused damage to rail infrastructure.
At the time, Gallo told RailFreight.com that the company had six trains parked and waiting in France and four in Spain since because of the closure. A number of its scheduled train departures from Germany were also put on hold. DB Cargo France normally operated 20 round trips per week between Germany and Spain, with half of the train loads carried made up of new vehicles and spare parts and the other half being combined transport shipments.
Most trains using Perthus Tunnel
Gallo explained that the track gauge in Spain is different from the standard gauge in Europe. Before the Perthus Tunnel and the standard-gauge line to Barcelona were built, trains on the route changed their axles at the Cerbère border crossing, on the French side.
“Most trains now use the Perthus Tunnel (in preference to the original line), especially since the introduction of significantly lower tolls. But as recent events have demonstrated, as soon as there is a problem on this line trains are stopped. It’s a highly vulnerable situation making it imperative that both lines be maintained.”
Train parking shortage
He also highlighted the inadequacy of upstream rail infrastructure provision in the vicinity of Perpignan, which did not allow trains heading to Spain from France to be parked, even for a short period, if there was a disruption to services through the Perthus Tunnel and downstream.
During the recent near-standstill in services, there were reports of“dozens” of immobilised trains loaded with new vehicles and containers being stored on the French side, notably at Le Soler, near Perpignan. The seven tracks dedicated to train parking at the site soon reached full capacity and trains had to be diverted to Perpignan-Saint-Charles station.
Lobbying government ministers
Gallo revealed that industry associations are in the process of lobbying transport ministries in France and Spain to set up working groups to plan for the future of freight train services between France and Spain.
“If we want to create the necessary flexibility on this rail freight corridor then consideration should be given to building a third rail path on the line between Cerbère and Girona, as well as a connection to the standard-gauge line to enable traffic to be diverted if necessary. It’s having the possibility of taking one route or another in the event of congestion or unforeseen circumstances”, he added.
Separately, Gallo drew attention to the disruption to rail services in France caused by the recent Storm Nils. “It was chaotic last weekend in terms of operations with traffic stoppages across much of France,” he said.
Rail services in western and south-western France were particularly affected with some coastal areas battered by winds that reached speeds up to 140 kilometres per hour, leading to rail infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau taking preventive ‘Stop Circulation’ measures.