{"id":541911,"date":"2026-09-16T19:48:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T09:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=74364"},"modified":"2026-09-16T19:48:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T09:48:06","slug":"local-authority-pulls-plug-on-modal-shift-to-rail-project-in-western-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=541911","title":{"rendered":"Local authority pulls plug on modal shift to rail project in Western France"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major project to drive a modal shift to rail, with the creation of a combined freight transport terminal at Tr\u00e9laz\u00e9, in western France, has been abandoned following a decision by the local authority. At a meeting earlier this week, the leader of the Angers Loire Metropolitan Council, Christophe B\u00e9chu, described the project as \u201cunsustainable.\u201d<\/strong>
\n<\/span>A spokesperson for the Council confirmed to RailFreight.com that the project had been scrapped. It had been officially launched in early-2024<\/a> by a group of road haulage and logistics operators in the Pays de la Loire region (Ageneau Group, Transports Th\u00e9bault, TC-Transports, Immo-Ouest Groupe OPAL and Combronde), together with the Maine-et-Loire Chamber of Commerce and Industry.<\/p>\n

A dedicated company, Transport Multimodal Alliances (TMA) was set up to pilot the project. It planned to operate a multimodal terminal at Angers-Tr\u00e9laz\u00e9-Saint Barth\u00e9l\u00e9my d\u2019Anjou on a 25-hectare site from 2027. At the Council meeting, Mr B\u00e9chu explained that after numerous feasibility studies, the decision was taken to scrap the project due to the high level of investment required for its development. Levelling the proposed site for the terminal and connecting it to the rail network was estimated at approximately \u20ac50 million, he said.<\/p>\n

Local opposition<\/h2>\n

Secondly, a residents association had raised environmental concerns, which focused on the volume of freight traffic the terminal would have generated – 100 to 150 HGVs per day and 20 trains weekly. B\u00e9chu said the Council was not turning its back on rail freight but that moving forward it would favour sites which were already equipped with a railhead.<\/p>\n

TMA could not be immediately reached for comment. As recently as May this year, in a LinkedIn post, TMA said \u201ccombined transport had proven its effectiveness and that the Pays de la Loire region had the freight volumes and rail connections to make this a reality.\u201d It added: \u201cWe are now laying the foundations for its success, with the commitment of our shareholders and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A major project to drive a modal shift to rail, with the creation of a combined freight transport terminal at Tr\u00e9laz\u00e9, in western France, has\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":[94,65,4186,471,336,47],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-541911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-france","category-intermodal","category-modal-shift","category-news","category-policy","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