A port at the service of the Grand Paris project

Ports and multimodal platforms: key elements in efficient, sustainable city logistics

HAROPA PORT possesses an efficient city port network in the Paris area comprising several dozen urban ports providing extensive docks dedicated to logistics and three multimodal facilities connected to these ports (at Bonneuil-sur-Marne, Limay-Porcheville and Gennevilliers), these being key assets for shifting goods traffic to river transport.

This configuration makes it possible to meet all the needs of Grand Paris project stakeholders: massification of flows, goods handling, and execution of final goods delivery into the heart of the city.

In addition, France’s Climate Law and the implementation of low-emissions mobility zones (ZFE-m) have an impact on economic activities in cities, especially where logistics-dedicated real estate is concerned.

For these reasons, HAROPA PORT is endeavouring to relocate and develop logistics facilities near to ZFE-m low-emissions zones with a view to encouraging modal transfer and providing sites with rail and river connections, as well as developing alternatives to road transport for Paris city centre deliveries.

The Gennevilliers facility located 7km from Paris where a number of motorways meet (A86, A15, A1, A14) is a major asset for addressing the ecological and economic issues of the region and the capital.

The decision to create the Port Seine-Métropole Ouest (PSMO) platform is also part of this dynamic. Driven by HAROPA PORT, this is a projected multimodal platform (waterway, rail, road) that will underpin development in the Paris area and the Yvelines département. Located to the west of the capital, it is intended to be used for the transportation of unprocessed and prefabricated construction materials.

River transport: particularly well-suited to Europe’s biggest urban works programme

HAROPA PORT assists the ramping up of the Grand Paris project by consolidating and ensuring the long-term viability and presence of construction industry activities, and more specifically, ready-mix concrete plants based at the waterside in the city.

River transport has numerous advantages for urban logistics. This is because it is a mode of transport that enables large quantities of freight to be carried in complete safety while at the same time reducing pollution for local residents and the environment as far as possible (road traffic congestion, air pollution, noise, etc.).

The Seine is a vector for sustainable development where excavated materials generated by the Grand Paris project are concerned. The tonnage of such material carried on the river rose significantly in 2020 due to shipments from Grand Paris Express worksites going to quarries in Normandy: over 5.2m tonnes in 2020, a historic 20-year record.

River transport statistics
1 river barge can carry 5,000 tonnes of freight, equivalent to 250 fewer trucks on the roads.
A river barge emits 5 times less CO₂than road freight .
The Seine is navigable 24/7 and can accommodate three or four times more traffic.
The locks on the Seine can be used 364 days a year.

Practical commitments

1. The signing of a city pact

In 2018, the Grand Paris metropolitan district adopted a city logistics pact with the aim of providing practical, operational answers to the issues posed by pollution in the city.

This sets out twelve priority measures in favour of sustainable freight logistics. These are organised around four core focuses, among them the optimisation of goods flows and deliveries based on development of river transport and improvement of access to it.

The Grand Paris metropolitan district, HAROPA PORT and the French Waterways Authority (VNF) have therefore produced a guide to metropolitan logistics for the attention of all economic actors, the general public and elected representatives. Its purposes are:

•  to (re)familiarise stakeholders with river transport: how it operates and its key advantages,
•  to promote modal transfer through examples and advice,
•  to identify issues and solutions to protect the waterway’s roles as an infrastructure for the economy and a vector for the attractiveness of the region.

2. The river: already in use in the city to support major developments works such as the Grand Paris Express

As early as the initial consideration of the Grand Paris project, transport was seen to be an important tool for building the new metropolis. Every day across the Paris area, 8.5 million travellers use public transport. As a response to the sharp increase in traffic (+21% in 10 years), the Grand Paris Express, a planned new, automated underground rail network, was born. This will provide four new lines around Paris (orbital routes) and extend legacy metro line 14 (to the north and to the south). It will enter service over the period 2020 to 2030.

Construction work for the Grand Paris Express will generate large quantities of excavated material (45 million tonnes) and require procurement of construction materials, tunnel segments, rails and sleepers.

Given the scale of the above, the Société du Grand Paris (SGP) joined Paris city authority, the French Waterways Authority  (VNF) and HAROPA PORT in an effort to reduce the impact of the construction work on local residents and the environment by making use of river infrastructure. This effort will also help limit road traffic congestion in Paris.

It is estimated that at least 8 million tonnes of excavated material are likely to leave the area via the river, the equivalent of 400,000 truck loads.

Grand Paris Express in figures:
200km of automated lines
4 new lines (15,16, 17 and 18) and extensions to legacy metro line 14
68 stations, 80% of which  will be interconnected with the existing network
7 operations centres

From Grand Paris to the sea

At a time when maritime transport carries 90% of all world trade, Grand Paris must have a gateway open to the sea.

Like all the great “world cities” connected to their rivers, HAROPA PORT is the major river and seaport of Paris, and the Seine is its lifeline.

Positioning HAROPA PORT as the gateway into and out of the Grand Paris area must also involve capturing new categories of traffic into the Paris region as well as relocating logistics flows. Today, out of every 100 containers going to the Paris area, almost half arrive at Northern European ports before travelling south by road, to the detriment of Seine Valley jobs and environment.