French to cut Kangaroo rates from Holland
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by Norman H. Tilsley
AREDUCTION in rates and journey time for semi-trailers carried by rail between Rotterdam and Paris using, the French Kangaroo technique is expected to be announced shortly. Proposals to cut the existing rate by 10 per cent are now with the French Transport Ministry awaiting the approval of the Minister.
The recommendations follow negotiations that have been going on for some time now between Trailstar (the Dutch operating company run jointly by hauliers and the railways) and the railways. Trailstar has been steadily losing money for some time now because of a reluctance on the part of Dutch hauliers—who have invested considerable sums in purchasing the special equipment for the system—to use the technique. , These hauliers have for long been critical of the rata obtaining between the two capitals which, they say, are uneconomical both in terms of time and money, on a journey that, in any case, can be undertaken by road vehicle overnight.
Flexikan service starts
Meanwhile, STEMA—the company which operates the Kangaroo system in France—has announced that Flexikan containers of a limited
height can now be accepted for transportation throughout France. (Flexikan, as reported in COMMERCIAL MOTOR on April 16 last year, is the French version of. the American Flexivan road/rail container.)
Up to now the French have experienced certaM gauge difficulties. They have finally overcOme these by reducing the height of their Kangaroo rail wagons and, in the second half of 1966, they hope to have sufficient of these available to be able to carry. the largest type of Flexikan, measuring 40ft. by 8ft. by 8ft, and weighing 32 tons gross, at speeds of up to 75 m.p.h.
Kangaroo extends to Italy
STEMA further announces that on February 1 it will open a new Kangaroo terminal at Avignon, to be followed in March by the opening of one at Novara (between , Turin and Milan). This will bring the technique to Italy via the Alps, and should prove a popular facility with international hauliers in the winter.
Furthermore, STEMA has stated that it is studying the opening of further centres in France at ',Orient (in the west) and at Rennes—which could serve as a starting point for British hauliers using the Thoresen ferry route between Southampton and Cherbourg.