The Port of Zeebrugge launches rail shuttle to Dourges, in the North of France

An agreement has been concluded for a regular container rail shuttle service between Zeebrugge and Dourges, in the North of France.

The service starts on 13 February with three round-trip rail links per week between Zeebrugge and the tri-modal platform Delta 3 in Dourges. The loading and unloading in Zeebrugge will be carried out at Container Handling Zeebrugge, APM Terminals and P & O Ferries. The aim is to handle both deep-sea and short-sea containers.

Dourges occupies a strategic position on the Lille-Paris route in a region devoted to distribution and industry. From Dourges, containers can be rerouted to various destinations in southern Europe: Bordeaux, Lyon, Toulouse, Barcelona, etc.

This rail shuttle is an initiative of PortConnect (a subsidiary of MBZ), APM Terminals Zeebrugge, PSA Zeebrugge, Inter Ferry Boats and Naviland Cargo. The latter two organise the transport by rail.

The agreement specifies that the rail shuttle is a multi-user service. It is therefore at the disposal of the market as a whole.

The launch of this new rail link is in line with the strategy to develop connections to the hinterland, which is typical of the port of Zeebrugge, who claims to be a port “that follows freight”. It is exactly in the container segment that ship owners have actually decided to berth increasingly bigger vessels in ports that offer sufficient capacity. Zeebrugge is making every effort to develop logistical platforms in what it considers to be its own hinterland, in this case the North of France.

About Inter Ferry Boats (IFB)

Inter Ferry Boats sa (IFB) is an inter-modal operator  and neutral terminal on a pan-European scale.  Headquartered in Antwerp, the company has operational and commercial entities in 11 European countries, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey.  IFB has for more than 10 years offered reliable multi-modal solutions for container transport, inside the country and abroad, whether by rail or barge. IFB offers rail transport through a vast, high-quality rail network  in Europe, but also manages various terminals in Belgium, Germany and France for freight handling. IFB has in particular developed successfully the National Rail Container Network (Narcon), a daily link by rail, terminal and lorry between the quays of Antwerp and Zeebrugge and the hinterland. H&S Container Line is also a subsidiary of the IFB Group specialising in inland navigation between the ports of the North Sea and the economic heartland of the Rhine Region. www.interferryboats.com

For more information:

IFB sa – Veerle Van Mierlo – Telephone: +32 472 92 02 29 – veerle.van.mierlo@interferryboats.be

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