UK-Cherbourg link in the making
A new multimodal terminal is being planned for the port of Cherbourg. The hub is scheduled to start operations in 2024. It will link the South West of France to UK via Cherbourg.
The project will involve Brittany Ferries building a railway terminal in Mouguerre (Greater Bayonne), setting up a 950 km long train route between Mouguerre and Cherbourg, and operating a two-way shuttle service with a transport capacity of 42 trailers in each direction.
A call for expression of interest (CEI) was launched in 2019 to appoint a rail operator to manage a multimodal terminal at the port of Cherbourg, the only cross-Channel terminal that can be connected to the railway network west of the Dover Strait.
Works are set to begin in 2023 after public consultation, which is scheduled to take place in 2022. After the ramp-up period, the route will be able to transport about 20,000 trailers every year to and from the port of Cherbourg, i.e. the same volume currently handled at Cherbourg for the UK market.
While the Ports of Normandy will be contributing EUR 5.6 million, the European Union has earmarked EUR 1.4 million of funding for the project. (sh)