Fret SNCF, the freight transport arm of France’s national rail operator, is conducting a series of new trials using 1,000-metre freight trains.
A continuation of last year’s Marathon project, Fret SNCF will run 12 trains between October and December between Somain, in the north of France, and Woippy in the north east.
Project ‘Marathon’ completed a series of tests in 2014 using diesel and electric locomotives to haul 1.5-kilometre freight trains.
Following the success of Marathon, Fret SNCF launched a commercial study into the use of kilometre-long freight trains.
Fret SNCF has said commercial operation of 1,000-1,500m trains could be feasible from 2018.
The main advantage over running the longer trains is that it allows an operator to move twice the volume of goods whilst expending just 20 per cent of the capacity taken up by a complete additional train.
Central to the tests will be the coupling and de-coupling of the two standard trains in real-world conditions, without a radio link between the lead and middle cars, which means, unlike Marathon, it will require two drivers.
The testing will also look at the dynamic behaviour of the train whilst running and whether a double-length train is able to keep to timetable.
