France: Prince de Bretagne wants to expand transportation by rail

CombiWest, part of the Breton SICA (Societe d'intérêt agricoles collectifs), wants to expand the number of railroad tracks in order to get more products to Southern France and Italy by rail. Cerafel the cooperative association of Sica St Pol, UCPT and Terre de St Malo, proprietor of the famous Prince de Bretagne brand, opened Brittany Ferries in 1973 and now basically wants to set up its own infrastructure to reduce dependency on SNCF, in control of the French national railways.

Since January 2011 producers in Saint-Pol-de-Léon (Finistère), Lamballe (Côtes-d'Armor) and Rennes have been shipping their produce by a track system managed by CombiWest. The track allows producers of fresh produce to transport their crops directly to southern destinations like Lyon, Fos-sur-Mer and Marseille. At the moment, the CombiWest track allows for 6 transports per week. Now, the company is seeking to expand the network. A plan to include Paris-Rungis, Questembert (Morbihan) and La Brohinière (Ille-et-Vilaine) is already on the table.

The expansion would add to an already impressive infrastructure that holds promise for the future of French rail transport.