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Eurotunnel truck traffic on the increase
Page 12
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PORT DISRUPTIONS have caused truck traffic using Eurotunnel to rise, while rail freight has slumped.
Eurotunnel saw truck traffic grow 7% during the first half of 2008.
The number of lorries "crossing the channel once" increased by 50,001 from the same period in 2007.
A spokesman for Eurotunnel cites speed, frequency and reliability as 'pull factors' for haulers. He adds that fishermen and company strikes disrupted traffic at the ports, essentially promoting road/rail over sea.
"Storms closed certain ports, so all the traffic came down our way, giving us a boost in the first half, "We can also adjust our capacity to carry higher volumes and adapt to a number of different situations."
Blockades, though, had a negative impact on the volume of rail freight journeys, which declined 7%. "The whole market was shaken up with problems in Belgium, France and Italy, so for two weeks in May no rail freight was used at all."
Pre-tax profits increased 16% to just under £175m for the first half of 2008. Although Eurotunnel chairman and chief executive Jacques Gounon says the result means 'a position of strength", the spokesman does not anticipate the same rate of growth for the second half of the year.