{"id":525710,"date":"2026-08-31T22:35:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T12:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=73936"},"modified":"2026-08-31T22:35:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T12:35:47","slug":"arrival-of-new-rail-traction-company-illustrates-yet-another-shift-in-french-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=525710","title":{"rendered":"Arrival of new rail traction company \u2018illustrates yet another shift in French market\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The arrival of a new rail traction company in France has been welcomed by a leading incumbent player but who warned it could lead to upheaval on the domestic market. At the end of last month, intermodal solutions specialist, the Modal Group, announced that it was launching its own traction operator, Traix.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The company will initially operate a fleet of five locomotives with plans to increase this to 15 trains by the end of the year. Traix<\/a> will focus on France\u2019s leading rail freight hubs, including Marseille, Lyon, the Greater Paris region, Dunkirk and Metz as well as key border crossings.<\/p>\n

\u201cA new operator is always good news, but it also illustrates yet another major shift in the French market; namely that combined transport operators are also becoming railway companies,\u201d DB Cargo France chairman and CEO, Alexandre Gallo, told RailFreight.com. \u201cThis is the case for (Modal Group subsidiary) Delta Rail with Traix but also for T3M with Combirail (Open Modal) and Novatrans with GCA Traction (Groupe Saint-Andre).\u201d<\/p>\n

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Image: \u00a9 Modal Group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Traditional\u2019 rail companies could suffer<\/h2>\n

As combined transport is the fastest-growing segment in the industry \u2013 now accounting for more than 50% of all rail freight \u2013 it may seem logical for these operators to make this choice, he explained. \u201cHowever, it may also upset the balance of the market for \u2018traditional\u2019 railway companies who haul a large number of combined transport trains. They could suffer as a result of their customers bringing these operations in-house. That is why at DB Cargo France we decided to launch our own combined transport operations.<\/p>\n

Gallo went on to reveal that his company is currently providing traction to Delta Rail on its services between Lyon and Marseille-Fos and between Lyon and Piacenza, in northern Italy.\u201cWe have no indication at this stage if Delta Rail will bring all its train operations in-house but doubtless it is part of their plans.\u201d Delta Rail will launch a direct rail freight service between Dunkirk and Lyon<\/a> on 3 September to be operated by Traix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The arrival of a new rail traction company in France has been welcomed by a leading incumbent player but who warned it could lead to\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,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8066,72,1084,19634,471,47,19637],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-525710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alexandre-gallo","category-business","category-db-cargo-france","category-modal-group","category-news","category-rail-news","category-traix","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