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Eurotunnel cuts freight-train tolls following traffic slump
Page 16
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n an attempt to attract freight back onto rail, Eurotunnel has slashed its Nices by 50% and simplified its pricing structure. Chris Tindall reports.
HANNEL TUNNEL operator ,urotunnel has taken drastic leasures to turn around its ailing ill-freight business by slashing ills for trains by 50%.
Eurotunnel hopes this will ncourage the transfer of freight 'om road back onto rail after trafc slipped to just over a million mnes, compared with the 1997 eak of three million. The Chunel's capacity is 10 million tonnes. Average tolls during 2008 will be alved to 64,500 (3,000): a sin-iplied pricing structure taking into :count train speed and time will place a toll per tonne depending n the commodity.
Eurotunnel says the move iould also enable it to tap into 2W markets such as intermodal, -id will "lead to a reversal of the Jwnward trend in cross-Channel rail freight followed by a rapid return to 1997 levels, with a target of six million tonnes thereafter".
A Eurotunnel spokesman says it has already absorbed its infrastructure costs, so additional traffic over one million tonnes will be "very good news in terms of profitability". It aims to return to 1997 levels of traffic within five years.
Jacques Gounon, chief executive and chairman of Groupe Eurotunnel, says: This strategy shows that Eurotunnel is strongly committed to the relaunch of cross-Channel rail freight."