Eurotunnel plans long-distance freight

Eurotunnel is set to launch long-distance freight services between the UK and Continental Europe in an attempt to cash in on the move to get lorries off the roads.

The Channel Tunnel operator has applied for a railway operator's licence in France after the opening up of the European freight market to competition and plans to begin a test service sometime next year.

Eurotunnel has been operating a freight shuttle service between Folkestone and Calais since the tunnel opened nine years ago and believes it can capitalise on its experience to launch a long-distance service.

The company said the service would be faster, safer and more economical than road transport and would contribute to EU, British and French government objectives of reducing road congestion and safeguarding the environment.

The first service will operate between northern France and the East Midlands. Subsequent services could be launched within mainland Europe. Eurotunnel is expected to go into partnership with an existing freight operator, possibly one of the two current freight users of the tunnel, English Welsh and Scottish Railways and SNCF.

Richard Shirrefs, Eurotunnel's chief executive, said that while the tunnel had led to a big expansion of the car passenger market across the Channel, the development of rail freight had been disappointing. Only 1.4 million tonnes of freight – the equivalent of 100,000 trucks – is transported on through trains a year compared with the 1.2 million trucks the shuttle service handles each year.

The railway operators licence which Eurotunnel has applied for to the French authorities, will enable it to provide freight services anywhere in Europe. However, it will also need an individual safety certificate from each country in which it operates. A spokesman said Eurotunnel planned to apply to the UK's Rail Regulator for such a certificate. It will then create a separate railway operating subsidy