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Summary of our market study
The river transport market in France encompasses both passenger and freight transport. French river freight is mainly used to transport ore and bulk heavy goods.
With over 8,500 km of navigable waterways, the French network is the longest in Europe, but only handles 4% of the country's total freight traffic.
River freight enables large volumes of goods to be transported, offering an alternative to the often congested road networks.
River tourism accounts for over 11 million passengers and freight traffic for just over 56 million tonnes a year.
Despite these advantages, European river freight traffic is declining. The European Union has seen an 8% drop in goods transported by inland waterways in recent years. European road haulage continues to gain market share from rail and river freight.
The COVID-19 crisis has dealt a severe blow to passenger transport, leading to a 78% drop in traffic by 2020.
With over 45% of national river transport, the Seine basin leads the way in freight traffic on French waterways. The Autonomous Port of Paris eclipses other river ports in terms of traffic volume.
In response to ecological objectives and to revitalize the sector, the French government is increasing its investment in the national river network, in particular with the major Seine Nord canal project, which will link the Seine to northern Europe.
Players in the French river transport market
- CMA CGM is a heavyweight in river freight transport. Known for its global reach in shipping and logistics, this conglomerate has extended its services to river freight transport.
- Fluviofeeder Armement (Marfret) is a leading provider of specialized maritime and river logistics solutions.
- Compagnie Fluviale de Transport (Sogestran) is another key player, enriching the market with its diversified inland navigation services.
- In passenger transport, Compagnie des Bateaux Mouches is one of the market leaders in tourist transport on the Seine.
- Vedettes de Paris is another very active player.
- Touax, one of the world's leading river barge rental companies
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of study
River transport covers all travel on inland waterways, i.e. canals, navigable waterways and rivers. It is also possible to navigate on waterways that have been developed (artificial or canalized rivers in particular).
There are two "types" of river transport:
1. River passenger transport, which includes :
- River tourism, including cruises and excursions;
- Pleasure boating;
- Public transport, on specific sites such as Lake Annecy, which remains marginal today.
2. Freight transport:
- This mainly concerns major waterways, and is both economical and reliable;
- Suitable for moving large volumes of goods;
- Avoids the congestion often encountered on roads.
Today, river freight transport is a key mode of transport for achieving the ecological transition objectives set by governments, although it has been in decline for some years. To remedy this, a number of measures have been put in place, including an increase in the number of waterways and financial investment by the French government in Voies Navigables de France (VNF).
France is the European country with the longest river network to date, with no less than 8,500 km of waterways, but it is also one of the countries that makes the least use of this network for goods transport, with only 3% of total traffic passing through the river network. However, there has been clear growth in the volume transported by waterways, with a growth rate of 20% in 2019 compared with 2018. This is a sector that is regaining momentum, and the economic stakes for the future are high.
1.2 European river freight transport on the decline
inland waterway freight transport in Europe is experiencing a slight decline. Indeed, after an insignificant evolution until ****, the quantity of goods had an unusual decrease in **** of *.*% confirmed by a year **** also relatively weak.
evolution of goods transported by inland waterways European Union, **** - ****, thousand tonnes Source: ****
germany and the Netherlands ...
1.3 The French market
waterborne transport in France includes maritime, coastal and river transport. It is important to note that river transport represents a very small part of waterborne transport in France. In fact, the total sales of river transport corresponded to only *% of the sales of waterborne transport in France. It is also important ...
1.4 Impact of the Covid-19 crisis
As we saw earlier, the health crisis has had a major impact on passenger transport in France. The following graph shows the extent to which the seasonality of activity has been disrupted in ****. Note that the graph is based on ***, taking the average level reached in **** to be equal to ***. In ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Demand by type of goods transported
it's important to note that river freight transport in France accounts for a very small share of all inland freight transport in France. In fact, the majority of freight is transported by road, well ahead of rail, which itself accounts for a much larger share than river transport. It is interesting ...
2.2 Decline in international river freight transport
The French river network is also used to transport goods traded internationally. The figure below shows that the latter has been declining slightly since ****, while domestic freight traffic is showing a slight upward trend. Thus, a gap is slowly opening up between these quantities of goods.
Transport on the French network France, ...
2.3 Demand for river passenger transport on the decline
the breakdown of household consumption of transport services shows that sea and river transport represent a very small share of total passenger transport activity in France (***). It is interesting to note that, despite the sharp drop in air traffic in **** due to the health crisis, sea and river transport is the ...
3 Market structure
3.1 A high concentration of traffic on the widest lanes
A look at the typology of French-licensed vessels shows that vessels weighing between *** and *** tonnes and those over *,*** tonnes account for more than half of the total. Fleet of licensed boats France, ****, number of boats Source: SDES This distribution is strongly correlated with that of the waterway network. Waterways suitable for ...
3.2 Freight traffic on the Seine
a study of the distribution of transport by river basin shows a clear lead for the Seine over all the other river basins, which have been at relatively similar levels since ****. The Seine accounted for over **% of French river transport in ****. For almost all river basins, we can see stagnation, with ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Price trends for river freight transport
The price of transporting goods generally depends on the volume and weight of the goods, the distance of the journey, and the mode of transport used. Freight and warehousing price indices can be used to visualize the dynamics of price trends for the various means of transporting goods. We can see ...
4.2 River passenger transport offer
Passenger river transport in France can be broken down into three sub-sections: promenade cruises, cruises with accommodation and urban mobility[***].
The promenade cruise corresponds to a trip lasting from one hour to a full day. This tourist offer is mainly available in major French cities. Services range from simple promenade cruises ...
4.3 Development of electric river transport
The main industry dynamic in France is the development of electric boats, with Green River Cruises, for example, launching its first ***% electric tour boat in October ****. The company now offers several types of cruises on the Seine with "Between friends" or "Between colleagues" formulas ranging from a one-hour half-tour of the ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Tax advantages for river transport
When transporting goods by inland waterway, prices must be set according to :
The services provided by the carrier; The length of time the vehicle is immobilized during loading and unloading; The time required to transport the freight; Fuel costs.
France has a number of tax provisions specific to domestic shipping.
Article ...
5.2 Plan to revive France's waterways
French waterways have been the focus of several development projects.
The French government sees river transport as an ecological objective. For example, the public body Voies Navigables de France, responsible for the national river network, will benefit from over *** million euros to be invested in modernization work in **** and ****. This organization ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
- CMA CGM
- Marfret
- Compagnie fuviale de transport - CFT
- Vedettes de Paris
- Compagnie des bateaux mouches
- Transdev
- E2F
- Haropa Port - Port du Havre
- Sogestran Group
- VNF Voies Navigables de France
- Coalis
- Naviland Cargo
- Viking cruises
- Château Coliving
- Chez Nestor (Dovevivo)
- Coliving.com
- Colivys
- Ecla (Uxco Group)
- Habyt Common
- Hife Coliving
- La Roche Cotard Coliving
- Mansiones Coliving
- Sharies Coliving
- Tendoors Coliving
- Urban campus
- Uxco Group
- Woodeum (Altarea)
- Port de Colmar Neuf-Brisach
- Rhenus logistics
- ULS Urban Logistic Solutions
- Port de Dunkerque
- Touax
- Port de Villefranche-sur-Saône
List of charts presented in this market study
- Evolution of the quantity of goods transported by inland waterways
- Evolution of the distribution of internal freight transport means
- Inland waterway freight transport in the European Union
- Water transport market
- Passenger water transport market in France
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Latest news
Transdev yields to the lure of international business - 20/03/2024
- -Total sales in 2023: up 21% to 9.33 billion euros
- - Share of business in France in 2023: 29.3% of sales, versus 35.2% in 2022
- - Acquisition of First Transit in the United States: adds 1.1 billion in sales
- - Share of US business in 2023: 25%, versus 15% last year
- - Investment in France in 2022: 135 million, rising to 250 million in 2023
- - Net profit: stable at 20 million euros
- - Change in network ridership after the health crisis: France virtually equivalent to pre-Covid (-2%), Germany +15%, Ile-de-France -9% compared to 2019, Netherlands -20%, Stockholm region -16%, United States -25%
Transdev's plan for the Marseille-Toulon-Nice TER line - 24/11/2023
Opening up regional trains to competition
- The new train will run on the Marseille-Toulon-Nice line from July 2025.
- Transdev's ridership objectives: to increase annual passenger numbers on the Marseille-Toulon-Nice line from 3.4 million to 5.5 million in the medium term.
- The region has written Alstom a cheque for 250 million to purchase sixteen Regio 2N Omneo trainsets, and will pay Transdev 50 million a year to operate the line and another 50 million to build a new rolling stock maintenance site in Nice.
- The Caisse des Dépôts subsidiary, which will operate the route for ten years (2025-2035), will provide 15 round trips between Marseille and Nice, twice as many as today.
- Two Regio 2N Omneo trainsets attached to each other will offer 800 seats, including 100 on folding seats, compared with 600 today.
- transdev is beginning to build up its team, which will comprise 180 to 200 employees to operate this line.
CMA CGM reprend les activités logistiques du groupe Bolloré pour 4,65 milliards d'euros - 24/05/2023
Transdev returns to profit - 29/03/2023
- - Sales: 7.7 billion euros
- - Countries: France (35.2%), Germany (17.2%), USA (14.9%)
- - Passengers transported: 8.8 million
- - Electric buses: 2000
- - Transport sector: Urban (46.7%), Interurban (29.7%), Rail (13%)
- - Net income: 20 million euros
- - Net debt: 1134 million euros
- - Impact of energy costs: 82 million euros
- - Driver recruitment: 4000
Transdev appointed by Ile de France Mobilités to operate the first cable car in the Paris region - 15/12/2022
- Transdev acquired the Ludis group, leader in urban transport in France and Belgium, in May 2017
- 19,000 employees in 45 countries
- The gondola lift will be 4.5 kilometers long and will link Créteil to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges via Limeil-Brévannes and Valenton in five stations, in 17 minutes
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the river transport market | France
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