Medway is in France for the long term and is already eying a further expansion in this market. The MSC-group rail freight company received its first four locomotives in a ceremony held last Tuesday in the Lyon-Perrache train station. The new rolling stock will also be used in Spain and was acquired with the support of the European Union (EU) funds.
“We are studying plans to expand the number of locomotives exclusively for the French market”, reveals to RailFreight the Medway’s chairman. Carlos Vasconcelos shows the ambition of the operator moments after the baptism of the first four of eight new Stadler Euro6000 locomotives. The even more powerful Stadler Euro9000 machine is under the radar of the company founded 10 years ago in Portugal and already established in nine countries.
With the acquisition of this rolling stock (at 4 million euros per unit), Medway is releasing itself from leasing to other companies. In France, the freight operator also uses traction from Hexafret, rail operator that kept rolling stock from former Fret SNCF, restructured into other companies following the outcome of an investigation from the European Commission.
EU support
Next to each locomotive cabin, a sticker shows that the acquisition of the locomotives benefited from the support of the EU funds. Medway invested €41.1 million, around a third of it supported by Spain’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, the sticker details. This means that the new Euro6000 will also operate in Spain, mainly on standard gauge rail tracks.
Nevertheless, there is a chance that these locomotives will be allowed to go further in Spain and explore the larger Iberian gauge tracks. “Eventually, we have the possibility of changing the bogies”, reveals Carlos Vasconcelos. Such a possibility, however, would increase operational costs (and consume more time). Since last July, the MSC group has started to produce wagons and bogies for standard and Iberian gauge in Trieste in partnership with Innofreight.
Filling the gap
The ceremony was also an opportunity for MSC to reflect on the role of Medway in the Swiss-owned group. “I have brought to fruition a strategic journey that the group embarked upon 10 years ago with Portugal, with the aim of achieving rail coverage across the whole of Europe, from Portugal to Germany, from Belgium to Italy.
However, there was a significant gap in this strategy, and that was France. Therefore, we are truly proud to have filled that gap and to now have Medway France operating in Europe in a leading role”, highlighted Medlog’s Rail Manager, Andrea Castino, during his speech.
Carlos Vasconcelos reminded that Medway began its operations after winning the privatisation of the former freight business from CP – Comboios de Portugal. “We committed to transform a national operator into a true European rail operator. Ten years on, I can tell you that we are delivering on that commitment today”, he emphasised.
Smashing bottles
Since the beginning, Medway has followed the tradition of designating each of its locomotives with the names of the workers’ daughters and granddaughters. Estelle, Thaïs, Maud and Valentine became the “sponsors” of the new machines. All of them attended the ceremony (including baby Thaïs) after receiving a personal invitation from the rolling stock operator.
To conclude the naming ceremony, each of the girls had to smash a champagne glass into the locomotive, in sign of good luck, following the cruise ship’s tradition. However, the first attempts were not successful, since the glass was hitting the cabin access steps instead of the pneumatic buffer. Then, each girl pressed the horn to the audience.
After the event, the new locomotives left Lyon-Perrache, as they were ready to operate. From this week, they are moving goods from the Port of Le Havre to several locations in France. The steel industry and containers from the MSC group will be the focus of the Medway’s operation in France.
“We will anchor our operation in the ports of Dunkirk, Bordeaux and Marseille”, Medway’s chairman said last February to RailFreight. “Our mission is to replace trucks with trains, also supporting short-sea and deep-sea activities”, he added at that time.