The Uncertain Future of the Produce Train

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The announcement in June that it would be eliminated, followed by the announcement that it would remain in place produce train between Perpignan and Rungis by the Ministry of Transportation, have brought to the forefront the thorny issue of the ecological transition as applied to freight transport.

While the transportation represents 30% of emissions France's greenhouse gas emissions, Road freight transport by truck accounts for about one-fifth of these emissions, and commercial vehicles (some of which are used for freight, particularly urban distribution) account for another fifth. While France has set an ambitious emissions reduction target (achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, representing a six-fold reduction since 1990), transportation emissions rose from 1990 through the 2000s, with only a slight decrease since then. It is high time to take action and achieve concrete results in this sector.

Thus, eliminating the produce train would appear to contradict France’s climate roadmap, given that rail freight is a much lower-emission mode of transport than road transport.

According to a recent ADEME publication [1], the carbon footprint of rail freight in France is in the range of 4 to 10 gCO2/ km, compared to 95 gCO2/km for average road freight (a fully loaded 40-metric-ton truck on a highway emits closer to 40 gCO2/km).

The reasons why rail freight faces challenges compared to road freight will be discussed in an upcoming newsletter.

 Sources:
[1] ADEME