MSC’s subsidiary Medway will expand in the French market with eight new Stadler Euro6000 locomotives. The first four units will be presented in March in Lyon, in a ceremony promoted by the MSC’s rail branch Medlog. The new locomotives will join the operator’s already existing fleet in France, which includes former SNCF units, Medway’s chairman, Carlos Vasconcelos reveals to RailFreight.com.
France became the Medway’s ninth market in late December 2025. “We were already running a service between ArcelorMittal steelworks in Dunkirk and quarries in Caffiers”, details Vasconcelos. In that operation, Medway leased traction to Hexafret, (the successor of Fret SNCF).
The steel industry and containers will be the focus of Medway’s operation in France. “We will anchor our operation in the ports of Dunkirk, Bordeaux and Marseille”, Vasconcelos added. “Our mission is to replace trucks with trains, also supporting short-sea and deep-sea activities”. The international operator demands that rail freight operations have “equal competition conditions” with road transport.
In the works since 2023
The MSC group was already working with some freight operators in France. Despite that, they “decided to integrate the service, to have a unique and integrated supply chain coordination and operation, rather than saving costs,” says Vasconcelos from Medway’s headquarters in Lisbon. A ‘proper’ expansion to the French market has been in Medway’s horizon since August 2023.
Back then, the operator’s managing director, Bruno Silva, announced an investment of 45 million euros to buy eight locomotives and 350 wagons to explore cross-border tracks between Spain and France. No details were disclosed in the investment to acquire the new Euro6000 locomotives for France.
Iberian rail highway
The possibility of Medway exploring the rail highway market in France is not yet a concrete one. “We don’t expect to have the specific wagons for this possibility in the short term”, admits Vasconcelos. The Iberian Peninsula is the focus of putting truck semi-trailers over rails. After the beginning of the initiative, in 2024, with the route Valencia-Madrid, the operation was extended to Portugal at the beginning of this year.
Between Valencia and Alcázar de San Juán, Medway uses the Euro6000 electric locomotives, pulling up to 750-meter-long trains. However, from Alcázar to Entroncamento, the operator must split the train and shift to a diesel locomotive. In Portugal, the only line available is the Linha do Leste, a non-electrified rail track opened in 1863.
In 2025, several Linha do Leste stations were adapted to accommodate such a type of train, in a 230,000-euro investment from the Portuguese infrastructure manager IP. Despite this, limitations remain, as a maximum of 14 wagons (with two semitrailers each) are allowed for this track, according to Vasconcelos. In comparison, trains running between Valencia and Madrid can move 20 wagons, removing 40 trucks from the roads.
Alternatively, corresponding to Linha da Beira Alta (part of the TEN-T Atlantic Corridor), could be used for rail highway services. “However, the loading gauge is not sufficient and the catenary height is not high enough”, laments Medway’s chairman. There are no further plans to improve this scenario, despite an investment of 679 million euros over the last few years to improve freight traffic between Pampilhosa and Vilar Formoso.
Badajoz as a hub
At the beginning of 2027, Portugal expects to open the new rail track between Evora and Elvas. “This investment will reduce the costs of the service to the ports of Sines and Setúbal”, mentions Vasconcelos. The new 80-kilometre track will “allow longer trains, faster services and fewer restrictions and limitations”. In the short term, Seville and the Extremadura region will benefit from this investment.
Depending on the future development, the Sines Port could become “an entrance door” to Madrid and “almost as competitive” as the Valencia Port. This scenario can make Badajoz an operational hub for Medway: “we can have a full train in Badajoz and then split into one service to Cordoba and another to Seville”, he underlined.
Storms in Portugal cost 1.5 million euros
Portugal was hit by several storms between the end of January and the first half of February. Several rail tracks were suspended, including Linha do Norte, the network’s backbone. “Until 7 February, we only operated 42% of the scheduled services”, Vasconcelos stressed. Net losses reached 1.5 million euros, because during that period operational expenses went up, he specified.
This temporary situation added problems in the Portuguese market. In late 2021, the operator ordered 16 new Stadler Euro6000 locomotives, suitable for the Iberian market but only with onboard ASFA Digital (Spain’s most advanced ATP system) and ETCS (the European ATP standard). In Portugal, the ETCS installation is not in place yet, meaning the new rolling stock is confined to one of the sides of the border. “Our new locomotives are not being fully utilised. We are desperate for it”, laments the executive.
Onboard ETCS must be complemented by a ‘translator’ – the Specific Transmission Module (STM), which allows trains equipped with ETCS to read the signal emitted by Convel balises. In other words, STM allows trains equipped with ETCS to run on tracks that still have the legacy national system (Class B system). Without any STM system, ETCS trains could only circulate on the new rail track between Évora and Elvas, between Pampilhosa and Vilar Formoso and between Cais do Sodré and Cascais. The STM rollout is expected to take place this year.
Final details on the Spanish joint venture
Medway’s chairman was also asked about the finalisation of the agreement for a joint venture between Spain’s state-owned rail freight operator Renfe Mercancías. However, no more information on this topic was disclosed due to the confidentiality of negotiations. For now, some formal documents and attachments are being finalised to be submitted by Renfe’s board of directors.
It is expected that the initiative will be concluded this year, which also marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of Medlog as a freight operator after the acquisition of the freight business of the Portuguese State-owned train company CP. Since then and under the Medway brand, operations have reached Spain, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and, more recently, France and Austria.