Chunnel concession needs more freight...
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• The Government has told Eurotunnel to put more rail freight through the Channel Tunnel.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is making higher rail freight volumes a condition of extending Eurotunnel's concession to operate the tunnel—the current concession ends in 2025.
But Eurotunnel says it relies on freight operators to pull in extra freight volumes and only acts as an intermediary between them and freight carriers Railfreight Distribution (RID) and SNCF.
"There are certain obstacles in our way," says a Eurotunnel source. "There's a lack of dynamism in operators and some operators are against new operators joining in."
Only RID has rights to send whole freight trains through the tunnel, but if privatisation plans go ahead it will be taken over by English Welsh & Scottish Railway next spring (CM 26 June-2 July).