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Calais intermodal service suspended
[ July 26, 2016 // Chris ]The recently introduced VIIA intermodal service from Le Boulou and Italy to Calais was suspended on 10 July because of a surge in migrant acticity. A spokesman for the operator – a subsidiary of French Railways SNCF – said that since the end of June, the service had been the subject of a number of borading attempts by migrants on the approach to Calais.
She added: “We feel that we cannot completely guarantee the safety of the material we transport for our clients. We have come to the conclusion that we need to momentarily suspend the service until further safety measures are put in place.”
However, she added, we are aware that there is a major interest from road carriers and we will undertake different steps to try and resolve this situation. Moreover, the first months of operations were very satisfying from a sales point of view.”
VIIA is working with the local authorities, Calais Port and police on solutions that would allow the service to be as soon as possible. The spokeswoman added: “We cannot announce a date yet but we believe this service has a real potential and we definitely plan on re-open it.”