{"id":401725,"date":"2026-04-08T20:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=70506"},"modified":"2026-04-08T20:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:35:17","slug":"two-french-combi-players-forge-strategic-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=401725","title":{"rendered":"Two French \u2018combi\u2019 players forge strategic partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two French combined transport operators, Open Modal and Be Modal, have forged a strategic partnership, pooling their expertise and capacity and setting up a joint hub at Valenton in the Paris suburbs. The aim is to offer hauliers a more efficient, higher-capacity and increasingly reliable rail service by connecting various major routes across the country and optimising the continuity of freight flows, they said in a joint statement.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Effective earlier this week, trains operated by Be Modal from Rennes and Lyon have been connecting with those operated by Open Modal\u2019s subsidiary, T3M from Lille, at Paris-Valenton. T3M and Be Modal are capacity-sharing on the Lille-Paris\/Valenton route while the latter is expanding its offering by providing a new service between Paris\/Valenton and Lyon-V\u00e9nissieux – a a major freight corridor connecting two of France\u2019s key economic centres – \u00cele-de-France and Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes, by rail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe synergy between the two partners transforms Valenton into a genuine logistics hub by synchronising train paths and streamlining the movement of goods, thus increasing train capacity for freight operators\u201d, the statement noted. At the Valenton terminal, BTM and Combirail (Open Modal\u2019s rail company) manage and coordinate handling and shunting operations to connect the T3M and Be Modal trains arriving from Lille, Rennes and Lyon. Both Open Modal and Be Modal acknowledged the support of French rail infrastructure manager, SNCF R\u00e9seau, in the development of the Valenton terminal.<\/p>\n

Growth trajectory<\/h2>\n

Last month<\/a>, Open Modal, whose activities span the entire combined transport chain, launched a new domestic route on its north-south Mediterranean corridor running from Lille to Miramas, near Marseille, via Bonneuil in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. Its 2025 turnover totalled 144 million euros and it employs 380 staff.<\/p>\n

Be Modal is part of the Brittany-based Lahaye Global Logistics group, which previously disclosed to RailFreight.com<\/a> that the subsidiary could launch a service for maritime containers between Rennes and France\u2019s biggest box port, Le Havre, this year. It has a fleet of multi-purpose wagons, which are suitable for all types of containers and swap bodies, including self-contained refrigerated swap bodies. Be Modal has the capacity to operate more than of 800 trains per year, representing 17,000 UTI units or 34,000 TEUs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two French combined transport operators, Open Modal and Be Modal, have forged a strategic partnership, pooling their expertise and capacity and setting up a joint\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":[15038,94,65,471,13713,47],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-401725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-be-modal","category-france","category-intermodal","category-news","category-open-modal","category-rail-news","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t