Rungis International Market in Paris has officially opened its new rail terminal.
The freight depot is dedicated to handling trainloads of fresh produce shipments from southern France and is part of a wider strategy to develop multi-modal supply chain capability. It has attracted investment totaling €19 million (£16.37m), with contributions from Rungis operating company, Semmaris, the Val de Marne local government authority, the Greater Paris region and state railway SNCF.
The new facility doubles Rungis’s handling capacity for rail-borne fruit and vegetables in the mid-term to 400,000 tonnes annually.
Two trains depart from Perpignan’s St Charles wholesale market to Rungis, six days a week, carrying fruit and vegetables in refrigerated wagons, reaching their destination at night a few hours before the market opens to customers.
The rail terminal has two platforms - 370 metres long and 10 metres wide - that can accommodate trains in their entirety allowing complete unloading in 30 minutes compared to two-and-a-half hours with existing platforms. It also provides the option of immediate storage of produce if this is required, in refrigerated units on the platforms themselves.
A spokesperson for Semmaris said: “The temperature-controlled rail service is unique, the only one of its kind in Europe. It allows Rungis to seize future opportunities offered by combined transport and high-speed freight trains for the shipment of perishable goods.”
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