Rail freight transport

In 2019, excluding the impact of COVID-19, total transportation spending in France amounted to 438 billion euros, or 18% of the country’s GDP. Transportation is the sector that emits the most greenhouse gases, accounting for 31% of total emissions.

In 2019, still in France, land freight transport totaled 370 billion ton-kilometers, of which only 34 billion were transported by rail—representing 9% of the total volume— with 89% carried by road, whereas in the postwar period rail carried 73% of French freight and still more than 40% in the 1980s.

The decline in rail traffic has now been halted, and with climate change and growing environmental concerns, rail transport can regain its momentum.

In addition, recent years have been marked by the end of the SNCF’s monopoly and the opening of the market to competition in France, as has been the case in most neighboring countries. This period is also characterized by the growing role of European authorities, whose environmental incentives are increasingly enshrined in law.

In this context, it is important to analyze how rail freight transport operates in France, in light of developments in Europe and around the world. The overall structure is new because it is tied to a market that is now competitive, where new players have established themselves. Technical developments have never ceased, but the current phase, with the explosion of digitalization, marks the arrival of genuine technological revolutions capable of strengthening the advantages of rail transport, whose market can open up both to a broader European context and to a more pronounced regional presence.

Finally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potential for decarbonization, rail freight is well-positioned to become a key player in green and intermodal logistics.