DCB International will set up and run a combined road-rail cargo terminal located close to the port of Calais.
The French logistics property developer has formed a joint venture company with German intermodal specialist CargoBeamer to operate a ‘rail motorway’ service from the terminal to Leipzig and thereafter to Russia and China. The aim is to capture trailer traffic to and from the UK as well as serving as an intermodal hub serving northern France, and the Benelux.
Cargobeamer first came to the attention of SHD Logistics readers in January 2012, when it revealed its plans to revolutionise the way freight is transported from the UK to Eastern Europe and beyond.
The terminal would accommodate an innovative system that lifts unaccompanied semi-trailers and mega-trailers onto trains specially designed to swiftly transfer loads between the different gauges of railtrack used in east and west Europe.
The first trains could operate by the end of next year, the companies said. The project was initially proposed two years ago, but has now been revived.
