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French ports to run Swiss rail shuttle

[ January 12, 2018   //   ]

A rail shuttle container service is to be launched between the French ports of Marseille Fos and Le Havre and Switzerland in mid-March in a joint initiative with intermodal operator Naviland Cargo.

Operating three times per week, the service will run to Chavornay – in the French-speaking region near Lausanne – with connecting rail shuttles from each port to the Dijon Gevrey facility in mid-France.

The new service is expected to capture a significant share of the market due to reduced transit times – notably for trades via the Mediterranean served by Marseille Fos and for Le Havre’s traffic with North and South America.

Marseille Fos is also set to become the location of the largest Chinese-owned factory in France after signing a letter of intent with Quechen Silicon Chemical, the world’s third biggest producer of silica for use in making ‘green’ vehicle tyres.

Costing around €100 million and creating 130 jobs, the plant will have an output of 90,000 tonnes per year.

 

From left: Provence promotion head Philippe Stéfanini, Marseille Fos CEO Christine Cabau Woehrel, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire and Que Weidong, founder and CEO of Quechen Silicon, with his wife.

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