Europorte Channel (formerly Europorte 2) is a

rail freight Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

train operator which operates rail freight services between France and the United Kingdom through the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...

. It is a subsidiary of

Europorte Europorte is a European rail freight company, a subsidiary of Getlink; operating in France and through the Channel Tunnel. The company was formed in 2009 as an entity encompassing the previous operations of Europorte 2 and the France-based busi ...

. In 2009 Europorte's parent company

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue on ...

acquired the French operations of

Veolia Cargo Veolia Cargo was a European rail freight transportation company that operated mainly in France and Germany. On 2 September 2009, the company was acquired by Eurotunnel and SNCF, the deal being finalised on 1 December 2009. History Prior to the cr ...

leading to the rebranding of Europorte 2 as Europorte Channel.

History

Background

Europorte 2 was founded in 2003. The company was established as an independent rail company, with a remit to expand freight operations around

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

. The company acquired a licence to operate in France in February 2006.

Operations

In June 2007 the

entered into a collaboration with the Port of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Dourges Dourges () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography An ex-coalmining commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some east of Lens, at junction 17 of the A21 and the A1 autor ...

, and collaborate on container shipments to the UK using the port of Dunkerque via channel tunnel. In 2010 Eurotunnel obtained a contract with the port to operate the enterprises own railway system - this contract was carried out by a new organisation Europorte Services. In 2009 Eurotunnel acquired Veolia Cargo's French rail freight operations - during the period of absorption of these entities Europorte 2 was renamed Europorte Channel.

Traction and rolling stock

A fleet of forty-six Class 92 locomotives were built by a consortium of

Brush Traction Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England. It is a subsidiary of Wabtec. History Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Works since t ...

and

ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...

between 1993 and 1996. Initially the fleet was split between

Railfreight Distribution Railfreight Distribution was a sub-sector of British Rail, created by the division in 1987 of British Rail's previous Railfreight sector. It was responsible for non-trainload freight operations, as well as Freightliner and Intermodal services ...

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

and British Rail European Passenger Services (now

Eurostar International Eurostar International LimitedCompanies House extract company no 2 ...

) for operations through the Channel Tunnel. The locomotives attached to

London & Continental Railways London and Continental Railways (LCR) is a property development company owned by the Government of the United Kingdom for developing former railway land. The company was originally established in 1994 as a private consortium to own European Pas ...

were for operations of the '' Nightstar'' international sleeper services. Introduction of the sleeper services were delayed and then cancelled. During 2000, Eurostar International offered its seven Class 92 members (92020–21, 32, 40, 44–46) for sale, being surplus to requirements. No immediate buyer could be found, so the locomotives were decommissioned and stored at

Crewe Electric TMD Crewe Electric TMD (officially named Crewe IEMD – International Electric Maintenance Depot) is a traction maintenance depot for AC electric and diesel-electric locomotives. It is situated to the north-west of Crewe railway station on the Crew ...

. In February 2007, following a tender exercise, the seven locomotives were purchased by Eurotunnel for £2 million, for use by Europorte 2. In July 2011, Europorte 2/Eurotunnel purchased the five remaining locomotives that had belonged to SNCF, bringing Eurotunnel's total up to sixteen Class 92s.Eurotunnel buys five Class 92s ''The Railway Magazine'' issue 1325 September 2011 page 78

Current fleet

* Class 92 Electric × 16 — 92006, 92010, 92014, 92018, 92020-92021, 92023, 92028, 92032–92033, 92038, 92040, 92043–92046

References

External links

company website
{{Channel Tunnel navbox Channel Tunnel Railway companies of France Railway companies established in 2003 2003 establishments in France