FRANCE: SNCF’s rolling motorway subsidiary VIIA has formally inaugurated its Autoroute Ferroviaire terminal at the Port of Sète, which has been developed as part of a strategy to increase the group’s intermodal operations and tap cross-Mediterranean shipping flows.
Work began in January 2025 to develop the 6 ha complex, installing Modalohr horizontal transfer facilities alongside the port’s existing intermodal terminal which has been operated by VIIA since it opened in 2023.
Using equipment supplied by Lohr, the facility provides 18 loading spots for the rapid transhipment of 36 semi-trailers at a time. Other enhancements to the site include expanded access for loading units, 175 parking spaces and an operations control centre with administrative offices. The €20m investment has been funded jointly by VIIA, the Occitanie région and Port Sud de France, with a €20m contribution from the national government.
The terminal was formally inaugurated on November 25, with a ceremony attended by SNCF President Jean Castex, the President of Occitanie Carole Delga, Rail Logistics europe President Frédéric Delorme, Benedicte Colin, Chairman of VIIA and Naviland Cargo, and Philippe Malagola, President of Port de Sète Frontignan.
The port of Sète is a key entry point into the European Union for cargo coming by sea from Turkey, according to Rail Logistics Europe. VIIA introduced a direct service of three trains per week between Sète and Calais on October 17, noting that ’this development offers Turkish companies an important opportunity to deliver their cargo to the north of France, the Benelux region and the Scandinavian countries’ as well as the UK.
VIIA expects to double the frequency to six trains each way per week from January, and will also provide connections into its rail motorway services to Bettembourg in Luxembourg.
Rail Logistics Europe said it was looking to increase the number of semi-trailers transported between the two ports from 15 000 to 22 500 in 2026. Its long-term target is to be moving 40 000 semi-trailers and containers between Sète and Calais each year.
‘This Autoroute Ferroviaire terminal is a concrete example of what we want to build with our partners’, Colin told local media. ‘A greener mode of freight transport that creates jobs in the regions and is attractive to players in the logistics chain, while remaining competitive and efficient.’
