French group Open Modal, whose activities span the entire combined transport chain, has launched a new domestic route on its north-south Mediterranean corridor, effective March 10. It runs between Lille, in northern France and Miramas, near Marseille, via Bonneuil, in the southeastern outer suburbs of Paris.
Three weekly round trip services are planned initially which will subsequently be increased to five weekly. Open Modal’s Mediterranean corridor already comprises routes between Bonneuil and Avignon and Lille and Avignon. Its Atlantic corridor currently entail routes from Paris-Valenton to Bordeaux and Toulouse and between Dourges, in northern France and the same two cities in southwest France. Its international network focuses on Italy with routes from Paris-Valenton to Novara and from there to several Italian cities – Padova, Pescara, Pomezia and Bari.
‘Meeting market’s growing needs’
Open Modal’s director of Development, Jeanne Brunier, said the launch of the new service was part of the group’s strategy to consolidate its rail network between France’s major logistics hubs. “We are strengthening our combined rail-road transport offering to meet the market’s growing needs in terms of capacity, decarbonisation and energy efficiency. We are supporting market momentum by offering solutions that are ever more reliable, efficient and tailored to today’s logistics challenges.”
Three locomotives
Open Modal’s multimodal director, Anthony Cherubini, said the group was running 750-metre trains with a capacity of 48 ITUs (intermodal transport units), equivalent to 45-foot containers. “To ensure the highest possible level of service, we have a dedicated locomotive and a back-up locomotive for the phase with three weekly services. Ultimately, three locomotives will be assigned to this service to ensure greater reliability,” he explained.
The group has several subsidiary companies: TAB Rail Road (road haulage), T3M (combined transport operator), BTM (multimodal terminal operator) and rail company Combirail. Open Modal, which employs 380 staff, generated a turnover of 144 million euros last year.