The war in Ukraine has brought into sharp focus Europe’s state of readiness in the deployment of its armed forces eastwards in the event of military threats from Russia. Participants in a round-table discussion at the Mobco sustainable mobility trade fair in Paris last week heard how when it comes to sending troops quickly and above all, heavy equipment, rail is the only real option.
However, the responsiveness of rail transport can theoretically provide a huge challenge, particularly when it comes to France. One of the speakers, MEP François Kalfon, made the alarming claim that getting a military convoy to cross Europe from France could currently take up to 45 days – including administrative procedures, convoy preparation and the journey itself. “45 days is the worst-case scenario; we need to work at European level to reduce this timeframe to three days; we need a ‘single market’ for special convoys,” Kalfon said, as reported by French media BFM.
Old infrastructure does not help
The aim was confirmed by General Philippe Guéguen, defence adviser to the President of SNCF: “Reducing lead times means being able to respond more quickly and responsiveness acts as a deterrent. This is now a major issue that occupies us greatly. We must consider this question of capacity because, in the event of a major conflict, we will need to be able to deploy a large amount of equipment quickly,” he noted.
One of the main reasons for these operational difficulties is the ageing infrastructure, given that the strategic defence network accounts for 75% of France’s national rail network. “The priority is to modernise it,” urged Guéguen, who welcomed a new French framework law for transport which makes provision for additional State funding of 1.5 billion euros per year for the rail network, taking the annual total to 4.5 billion euros by 2028.
‘Lack of wagons suitable for transporting tanks’
Also among the speakers at the round table discussion was Alexandre Gallo, President and CEO of DB Cargo France, who argued that it was above all the “heterogeneity” of European rail networks and the lack of rolling stock that posed a problem for military convoys. “We are, in fact, seeing the same bottlenecks that have been observed in European rail freight for the past 20 years.”
The lack of interoperability was a serious handicap, he underlined, taking as an example the impossibility of sending a train directly to Poland. He said this would entail having to change the locomotive and the driver every time a border was crossed. Moreover, gauge dimensions are incompatible across several European corridors and permissible loads differ from one country to another, yet tanks are becoming increasingly heavy.
“We lack wagons suitable for transporting tanks, we lack interoperable locomotives and we lack terminals suitable for military operations.” Gallo confirmed his comments to RailFreight.com, adding that DB Cargo had sent humanitarian aid from France to Romania for Ukraine at the start of the conflict with Russia, which had arrived in less than six days. He also underlined the need to be “breaking free from a number of rules,” a reflection of the current European approach that was too rigid.
‘Genuine dialogue with operators’
However, on a positive note, General Guéguen noted that, as a result of budget cuts that had mainly affected its transport and logistics operations, the French army now relied on operators for 90% of its needs. “There is now a genuine dialogue that allows us to get ready for action.” Meanwhile, the European Commission is behind a number of initiatives to promote military mobility through new harmonised rules and removing regulatory barriers.
It includes the creation of an emergency framework for fast-track procedures and priority access to infrastructure, adapting the EU’s main military mobility corridors to civil and military standards, pooling and sharing transport and logistics capabilities, and strengthening governance and coordination.