Dunkirk–Lyon overnight by rail: new intermodal train takes 40 trailers off the road

Overnight connection between the North Sea and the Rhône valley

Trains leave Dunkirk in the late afternoon and arrive in Lyon early the next morning, after a journey of about 14 hours. That lets carriers hand over a trailer at the end of the working day and have it ready for final delivery the next morning. The new link adds to a growing offer of rail services for trailers in France, after CargoBeamer added a sixth weekly train on its Calais–Perpignan route.

The service is open to many customers: road hauliers, freight forwarders, logistics operators and industrial shippers. It can carry dangerous goods such as chemicals, liquids and gases, as well as general cargo and refrigerated or temperature-controlled freight.

Moving freight from road to rail is also an EU policy goal. Brussels has recently made it easier to grant public funding for rail and multimodal freight.

What can be loaded

The train takes craneable P400 semi-trailers, 45-foot containers and 45-foot swap bodies. With trains up to 750 metres long, each departure carries about 40 intermodal transport units.

Modal Group says it will add more departures as demand grows. The target is five round trips a week, up from the current three.

Who is behind the service

Terminaux Multimodaux runs the terminal operations in Dunkirk, and Delta Rail organises the train. Modalis supplies the wagons. Traction is provided by Traix, a rail operator that got its safety certification in June 2026.

“The first responses to this connection are very encouraging,” said Bernard Meï, president of Modal Group, as quoted by TrasportoEuropa.

Next stop: Piacenza

The Dunkirk–Lyon line extends Modal Group’s existing network, which already runs Fos–Lyon, Fos–Chalon-sur-Saône and Lyon–Piacenza. The company plans to extend the new service to Piacenza from January 2027. That would create a through rail corridor from the Channel coast to northern Italy.