The fourth "Day of meetings and exchanges" on OFPs was held on Thursday, November 6, 2014 at the Town Hall of Levallois

Reform, conferences... what is happening to rail freight and OFPs?

More than 330 participants in our Day, 30% more than last year came to the Town Hall of Levallois, which welcomed us in its magnificent Salon d'Honneur, to discuss four themes presented by presentations preceding a round table

- Will the reform improve the performance of rail freight and OFPs?

- The first effects of the Rail Freight Conference on OFPs

- Future of territorial railway infrastructures

- Diffuse traffic: how will we regain the 10 lost GTKs?

Even more than in previous years, the attendance was very varied, bringing together representatives of all entities interested in rail freight and its territorial and port dimension. Should we see the interest of the program and the meetings during the intersessions...or the expression of a certain concern and desire for action in this period of reconstruction of a new railway organization?

Mr Helmut Morsi from the DG Move of the EU Commission presented us the European action in the field of rail freight and expressed the support of the Commission and mentioned the financing offered for innovative projects.

Mr Patrice Saint-Blancard, Rail Services Adviser sent us a warm message from Mr Alain Vidalies, Secretary of State for Transport, noting in particular the great attention he pays to the question of capillaries which was the subject of our 3rd session.

J. Chauvineau drew the conclusions of this Day by noting the emergence of a new culture of dynamic, open and plural rail freight, awaiting clear support from the State.

Objective OFP would like to thank all its partners, media and companies, its members, the Town Hall of Levallois and all the people without whom this event could not have taken place.

First session: Will the reform improve the performance of rail freight and OFPs?

This session, moderated by Gilles Dansart, made it possible to note a stabilization of the modal share and the performance of rail freight, but at a very low level compared to other European countries, the expression of the expectations of a major customer of the rail and alternative RUs and the presentation of the SNCF Réseau action plan.

The round table which followed the presentations revealed a great convergence of expectations with regard to the effects of the reform between SNCF and the alternative companies, except with regard to the harmonization of the statutes. P. Cardo, with his usual clarity, recalled the very difficult financial equation to solve in order to reconcile the imperatives of balancing RFF's accounts and the level of rail freight market prices; the setting by the State of coherent objectives for SNCF Réseau is essential, knowing that, as R. Dubois reminded us, SNCF Réseau will implement all the means at its disposal to improve its performance.

Second session: The first effects on OFPs and rail freight of the Conference

Led by Jean Groeme, from CESER, rapporteur for the "Proximity" group of the conference, this session made it possible to measure the progress made over the past year; David Zambon, after recalling the launch and progress of the first phase of the conference, highlighted the confirmation by Alain Vidalies of the process launched by his predecessor; Gérard Lahélec explained the motivations and the process of establishing the Breton logistics plan after a remarkable work of consultation between all the interested parties, public and private; completely independently, it is the implementation of the wishes expressed by the "Proximity" Group. Philippe Guillard presented the expectations of ports, major players in rail freight not only in their field but also in their hinterland. Finally, André Thinières presented the current state of the OFPs, which in 2014 will have handled approximately 4% of the tonnages transported, a comforting figure, but which, in order to be consolidated and increased, requires the concrete implementation of the proposed actions, which unfortunately is still slow.

The round table allowed the actors of the other groups of the conference to express their desire to continue the actions launched, Christian Rose in the "Relevance" group, Jean-Claude Raoul in the "Innovation" group, citing in particular the importance of large-scale dissemination of ICT in railway operations and Alain-Henri Bertrand, new manager of the vast regulatory simplification project

Third session: The situation and evolution of capillary and service roads

Philippe Boucheteil President of the AFWP, animated this session awaited by all the participants. Vincent Duguay first of all clearly presented the serious situation of the capillaries and service roads: out of 3200 km of capillaries operated 450 km are promised to be closed in the short term, whereas all the capillaries are the source of 18% of the rail freight. Given the resources of SNCF Réseau; maintenance can no longer be assured and a new model of governance must be invented.

Two channels represent 80% of tonnage from capillaries; cereals (42%) and quarry products (38%), and these flows are vital (70% for aggregates!); Robert Bilbot, for CEREVIA and Michel Lomberty, for UNICEM showed that heavy storage and handling equipment allowing complete end-to-end trains was the condition of rail competitiveness. Loic Lanne presented the example of CFTA Carhaix which operates approximately 80km of routes in Brittany with a great versatility of staff and adapted practices, which opens up avenues for the future of capillaries.

As expected, the round table was very animated, starting with the criticism of a simple accounting reasoning whose logical outcome would be the elimination of freight on the network! A certain consensus has nevertheless emerged to evoke on the one hand a complete change of status and maintenance practices on the capillaries and reciprocal commitments of participation in the expenses of restoration and guarantees of tonnages and service. These new balances can be debated in the steering committee, the establishment of which was announced by Vincent Duguay and implemented locally line by line.



Fourth session: Diffuse traffic: how to regain the 10 GTk lost for 7 years?

Under the presidency of Jacques Chauvineau, the question of diffuse traffic in Europe and in France was debated. Paolo Guglielminetti and Marie-France Lagraulhet gave a preview of the conclusions of the study launched by the European Union on the Single Wagon. If the decrease in WI is a European phenomenon, it remains a very important mode (30 to 40%) outside France, UK, Italy and Spain. Its maintenance is considered vital by several sectors of activity, in particular chemistry, several avenues are proposed for this purpose: aid for the development of ITE, improving tracking / tracing, support for companies for the "last mile", removal of constraints unnecessary regulations.

Pascal Perrochon echoed this analysis at the level of the French chemical industry, for which the isolated wagon is an absolute necessity (limitation of stocks of hazardous materials). Jean-Philippe Delmont, after recalling some impressive data on DB Schenker Rail (112 GTk/year!) and presenting ECR, presented his new single wagon offer in France, which after a start-up year will have transported 40,000 wagons with a collaborative organization with partners, including OFPs (Regiorail). Finally, Eric Debrauwère spoke about the development of this "OFP network" which now includes three operational RUs (CFR, LR and Lorraine) and one starting up, Champagne-Ardennes, and its development philosophy.

The round table concluded on the importance of the territorial dimension of rail freight, to combat the risk of "2-speed logistics" distinguishing the territories served or not by rail; we must encourage actions such as that of the port of Strasbourg, now served by 4 RUs instead of one, the creation of logistics and service platforms ("freight village"), perhaps a European consideration of these regional disparities.