Annual cargo turnover of French railways down 15% over past 5 years to 30 bln t-km
Cargo traffic of French railways fell by 15% over the past 5-year period – to 30 bln tonne-km per year, IAA PortNews journalist cites Jacques Rapoport, President of French railway company TFF, as saying within the framework of a business program of CITL exhibition opened on Tuesday in Paris. According to Rapoport, this decline should be, first of all, attributed to the decreased demand for railway transportation of cargoes from the companies of French heavy industry.
“Meanwhile, road transport continues its development and takes over part of cargoes from the railways, though railway transportation is 8 times more environmentally friendly as compared with automobile transportation - the speaker said. So, state assistance is very important for our type of transport.”
Jacques Rapoport added that rivals of the state monopoly SNCF appeared at French railways only 8 years ago. As of today, private business accounts for 30% of railway cargo traffic in France.
