AFTER 31 years of service, mail freight trains on the French high-speed network ceased on June 27. A postal freight TGV made a final run between the terminals at Cavaillon in Marseilles and Charolais near Paris Gare du Lyon.
French post office La Poste announced last June that it would switch the movement of post by rail from TGVs to swap bodies, as part a €100m investment in its logistics network.
A new €23m rail hub at Bonneuil-sur-Marne south of Paris should open later this year. This will replace the TGV terminal at Charolais. The hub will link the capital with freight terminals across France, and will consolidate operations from two road terminals, reducing lorry movements by around 638,000km per year.