Europorte Channel (formerly Europorte 2) is a

rail freight Rail freight transport is the use of railways 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 (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

. It is a subsidiary of Europorte. 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 France and the United Kingdom, operates the LeShuttle railway service, and earns reven ...

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 ...

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 French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

. 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 ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

relating to rail freight traffic through Europorte 2 subsidiary; the company was to operate trains from Dunkerque to the Delta 3 logistics terminal at

Dourges Dourges () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France about east of Lens. The canalized river Deûle flows through the commune. Population See also *Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department The ...

, 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 was a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England whose operations have now been merged into the Wabtec company's Doncaster UK operations. History Hughes' Locomotive & Tramway Engine Wor ...

and

ABB ABB Group is a Swedish-Swiss multinational electrical engineering corporation. Incorporated in Switzerland as ABB Ltd., and headquartered in Zurich, it is dual-listed on the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Stockholm, Sweden, and the SIX Swiss Excha ...

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 servic ...

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

and British Rail European Passenger Services (now

Eurostar International Eurostar International Limited (EIL) is the railway company operating the international Eurostar train services between Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Brussels via the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar was previously operated by three separate companies ...

) 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 Pa ...

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. 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 French companies established in 2003