A new platform at Sète
Rail Logistics Europe, with its company VIIA, the leader in rail highways, inaugurated its new multimodal horizontal loading platform at the harbor of Sète.
The event
The development of combined transport and modal shift reached a crucial milestone with the inauguration of the Sète multimodal platform on Thursday, November 25, 2025. This new infrastructure, located in the heart of the harbor, was launched in the presence of all stakeholders, including: Pierre-André Durand, Prefect of the Occitanie region, Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie region, Philippe Malagola, President of the harbor of Sète, Jean Castex, Chairman and CEO of the SNCF Group, and Bénédicte Colin, President of Naviland Cargo and VIIA.
40,000
trucks taken off the road and put on the rails each year
6
round trips per day
30 000
tons of CO2 avoided per year
Sète, the first Mediterranean harbor equipped with the Modalohr system
With this innovation, the harbour of Sète has made a decisive step forward by becoming the first Mediterranean port to offer a service combining both container and semi-trailer transport.
This new VIIA multimodal terminal, covering more than 6 hectares, is equipped with Modalohr horizontal loading technology, which offers numerous advantages: time savings for loading semi-trailers, costs at least 10% lower than road transport, and increased transport safety.
This facility reinforces the regular rail freight service connecting the harbor of Sète to the harbor of Calais. The site's long-term goal is ambitious: to transport 40,000 Intermodal Transport Units (ITUs) by rail each year, a significant increase from the 15,000 ITUs currently transported.
Accelerated modal shift and increased connections
From January 2026, VIIA plans to double the frequency of services between Sète and Calais, from 3 to 6 return trips per week. This increase will directly improve connections to key destinations such as Lyon, the United Kingdom via Calais, and Northern and Eastern Europe via Bettembourg.
This project is part of a strong regional and national dynamic. Jean Castex emphasized that this project will “double freight transport between Sète and Calais,” insisting that “it is rail that is adapting to road to strengthen the strategic role of rail.”
The Sète rail freight terminal is a concrete example of what we want to build with our partners: a more carbon-neutral mode of freight transport that creates jobs in the regions and is attractive to players in the logistics chain, while remaining competitive and efficient.
Chief Executive Officer, Naviland Cargo and VIIA
RLE's commitment to a competitive and green economy
The Sète platform is a concrete response to the urgent need to decarbonize transport. “The commissioning of these new facilities will contribute to a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions and air pollutants. And the environmental impact is immediately measurable, since by 2026, we will remove 22,500 trucks per year from the road, which corresponds to a reduction in CO₂ emissions of 30,000 tons.”