SNCF chief warns of ‘trucks taking it all’

The head of France’s state railways, SNCF chief Jean-Pierre Farandou has warned that, if the modal split between road and rail is not evened up, trucks will strengthen their already dominant position in freight transport. In a document published by French think tank, the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, Farandou, set out the challenges facing rail transport, including freight.

He highlighted that road haulage’s modal share of the freight market in France currently stands at 85 per cent compared to only 10 per cent for rail-borne goods. “If no measures are taken to rebalance this modal split, then HGVs will take everything, or almost everything, as …