French logistics group GEODIS has launched a new rail freight service between Vicenza, in northeastern Italy, and Noisy-le-Sec, in the Paris area. The train is operated by Captrain and Hexafret, both part of SNCF’s Rail Logistics Europe, and currently runs once a week in each direction, with a second weekly departure planned from January 2027.
The first train left on 19 October, GEODIS said in a press release. The company aims to handle 6,500 swap bodies per year on the route by 2027. “With the Vicenza-Paris connection, we are expanding our intermodal offer and introducing a new railway axis to serve companies in the North East of Italy”, said Marc Vollet, Executive Vice President European Road Network at GEODIS.
According to GEODIS, the service cuts CO2 emissions per shipment by 80% on average compared to an all-road diesel solution. On top of that, each transport can handle up to 28 tonnes of goods, compared to the 25 tonnes typically carried by a truck. The company also argued that rail offers greater cost stability than road, especially at a time of volatile fuel prices.
Extending the Novara offer
The new line brings to northeastern Italy a solution that GEODIS already offers to companies in Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna through its connection departing from Novara. That service was launched in January 2022 and also terminates in Noisy-le-Sec, east of Paris. In other words, the Vicenza route covers an axis that the company did not previously serve directly.
For traction, GEODIS turned to its sister companies within the SNCF Group. Hexafret is the French rail freight operator that took over from Fret SNCF in early 2025, while Captrain operates across several European markets, including Italy. “Rail is an efficient mode of transport, especially over long distances, with much lower CO2 emissions than road transport”, said Jean-François Ancora, Managing Director of Captrain Italia.
Strong trade ties
The launch targets one of the largest trade relationships in Europe. Bilateral trade in goods and services between France and Italy reached €136 billion in 2025, with Italy being France’s fourth-largest trading partner and France Italy’s second, according to GEODIS. Around 4,000 companies operate in both countries.
The Vicenza connection joins several other rail services in the GEODIS network, which also includes trains between Łódź and Baltic Sea ports and between Łódź and Piacenza. With one weekly departure, the new line remains a modest service for now, but the planned doubling in January 2027 suggests GEODIS expects demand from Veneto shippers to grow.