{"id":347754,"date":"2026-01-12T20:39:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T10:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=68585"},"modified":"2026-01-12T20:39:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T10:39:51","slug":"brittany-ferries-rail-highway-train-derails-line-closed-until-further-notice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=347754","title":{"rendered":"Brittany Ferries\u2019 rail highway train derails, line closed until further notice"},"content":{"rendered":"

A train operating on Brittany Ferries\u2019 rail highway service derailed yesterday shortly after leaving Cherbourg for Bayonne-Mouguerre, in the French Basque Country. No injuries were reported and the convoy was not carrying dangerous goods.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Following the incident, which happened near Carentan, just over 50 kilometers from the Normandy port, traffic was suspended on the Cherbourg-Caen line until further notice. In a post on X, SNCF said: \u201cThe track and electrical installations have been affected. Technical teams are on site to assess the damage and the time needed for repairs.\u201d SNCF R\u00e9seau was approached for comment and is expected to provide an update later today.<\/p>\n

Despite the train\u2019s derailment the trailers it was transporting are reported to have remained more or less upright. However, the delicate removal operation could take several days. Contacted by RailFreight.com, a spokesperson for Brittany Ferries said investigations have been underway since yesterday to determine the cause of the derailment, adding that it was too early to say exactly how long the service will be suspended for.<\/p>\n

Brittany Ferries\u2019 rail highway<\/h2>\n

Each train is currently composed of 18 Modalohr-type wagons with double pockets, allowing 36 unaccompanied trailers to be transported and loaded and unloaded using specialised horizontal handling facilities. After an initial launch in May 2025<\/a> and an official inauguration in July, the service suffered a three-week interruption in August due to work to extend the tracks, electrify and upgrade the combi terminal in Mouguerre.<\/p>\n

The service, which covers a distance of almost 1,000 kilometers, operates five return trips per week. Brittany Ferries has not disclosed any information on the train operating from Bayonne-Mouguerre to Cherbourg which, if it had set out on its journey, would not be able to reach its scheduled destination for the time being. Capacity is expected to increase to 21 wagons (42 trailers) in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A train operating on Brittany Ferries\u2019 rail highway service derailed yesterday shortly after leaving Cherbourg for Bayonne-Mouguerre, in the French Basque Country. No injuries were\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12126,196,65,471,47],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-347754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brittany-ferries","category-derailment","category-intermodal","category-news","category-rail-news","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=347754"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347755,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347754\/revisions\/347755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=347754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=347754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=347754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}