FRANCE: Amid the structural evolution of the French rail freight market, Medway is seeking to grow. On March 24, the operator marked the launch of its second regular flow, a three times per week service running between Lyon-Port-Edouard Herriot and Fos-Graveleau. Hauled by Stadler Euro6000 multi-system locos, the trains move ocean-going containers.
Medway France Managing Director Landry Eymard told Railway Gazette International at the launch of the intermodal service in Lyon that the company is seeking to expand its presence in the French market. Medway was established by shipping company MSC in 2012 under the name MSC Rail, but it expanded and rebranded in 2016 when it acquired the loss-making Portuguese national freight operator CP Carga. From there, the company has adopted an aggressive growth strategy, setting up subsidiaries in Spain, Italy and Belgium. The French business followed in 2025, with Medway Chairman Carlos Vasconcelos insisting at the time that ‘France is the country we’ve been missing’.
The company’s core strategy is to provide a decarbonised logistics proposition for customers across the countries that lie on the Mediterranean sea, which Vasconcelos says was the ‘birthplace’ of the MSC shipping line. Currently Medway France has a staff of 21 people, and it is actively recruiting for its French operations. Its first traffic flow runs from Caffiers to Dunkerque, carrying limestone for ArcelorMittal.
This service is one of a package of 23 freight services that have been put out to tender as part of the regulatory reforms affecting Hexafret (formerly Fret SNCF), which has seen the incumbent give up some of its traffic in the aftermath of a European Commission investigation into state aid rules. The limestone trains run daily and are hauled by a batch of five Alstom-Siemens BB 75000 diesel locos acquired by Medway and formed of Falns and Talns wagons.
However, Eymard explains that launching the second service has proved more challenge because of the capacity constraints on the legacy network around Lyon in particular. He says Medway has ‘worked hard with SNCF Réseau’ to obtain paths, but the congestion in Lyon and in Fos is nevertheless ‘a reality’. The use of new Euro6000 Co-Co locos can help to mitigate this issue; the four in France form part of a batch of eight that Medway procured from Stadler València for €41m. The other four are to be used in Spain initially. ‘The Euro6000 is the [most] up-to-date locomotive on the European market and corresponds to our needs’, Vasconcelos says.
The tri-voltage locos for France were formally unveiled at the event in Lyon; able to operate from 1·5 kV and 3 kV DC supplies as well as 25 kV 50 Hz overhead, the locos have a maximum speed of 120 km/h and a continuous rating of up to 6 MW in AC mode. Each locomotive was christened, like all of MSC’s railway and shipping assets, with the ceremonial smashing of a Champaign bottle, and named after a child of a Medway France employee — ‘Valentine’, ‘Thaïs’, ‘Maud’ and ‘Estelle’.
The locos are being maintained by Erion France, part of the Erion joint venture of Stadler (51%) and Spanish national operator RENFE (49%). Servicing is being undertaken at three sites: Lyon Port-Edouard-Herriot, Sibelin and Miramas, reports Erion France CEO Louis Curto.
Looking forward, Medway France says its future expansion plans include targeting traffic at the ports of Le Havre and Nantes-St-Nazaire and running more cross-border trains in partnership with other Medway subsidiaries.
