EURO CAREX : Cargo Rail Express

Major steps

London Carex, a British specificity

The Terminal currently being developed by Eurotunnel will be directly linked to the high-speed railway line.
Unlike the other Euro-Carex sites, it will not be situated on an airport platform:

  • Most of London's airports are situated on the opposite side of London to the Channel tunnel. Serving them would require a significant increase in journey times.
  • HS1 does not serve any of London's airports. Serving them would involve trains running on Britain's conventional network, which would require dedicated rolling stock with a gauge that is not a priori compatible with transporting standard air containers.
  • Is not being on an airport platform a handicap?
    The project is essentially aimed at the modal transfer of containers from airplanes to high-speed trains for intra-community traffic flows leaving from hubs served by the Euro-Carex network. The volumes travelling to the United Kingdom are sufficient to justify direct flights for intercontinental freight. As things currently stand, air freight coming from or travelling to London's airports is handled in centres that are not situated at the airports themselves. Air freight is transferred by road, as in the case of the London-Carex terminal.

London Carex, its geographical situation

The Terminal is directly linked to the High Speed 1 line to allow on the one hand very rapid and manœuvre-free access in order to reduce as much as possible rotation times to the air transport standard.

The Terminal also benefits from optimal road connections to the A13 motorway and the M25, the British ring-road motorway in the Greater London area.

It is situated around 20 minutes from the English gateway to the Channel tunnel via HS1. It is also 20 minutes by road from the centre of London in an area where the number of land reserves allows for significant logistics development.