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France to launch 'railway highways' in push for greener economy

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-f...KCN24S2BL?il=0

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- France’s prime minister vowed on Monday to develop “railway highways” to carry food and other goods that now go by truck, part of a government push to reduce the country’s carbon footprint. Jean Castex said the “fresh food train” linking the main wholesale market in Paris to the southern city of Perpignan would reopen after that line was closed last year. The line would eventually be connected to a broader European line between Antwerp (Belgium) and Barcelona (Spain), he said, and two new national North-South lines would be launched. --- Freight trains will be able to use the country’s railway infrastructure for free until the end of the year and the fee they normally pay will be halved in 2021, he added. The Transport ministry later said those fee measures would cost 63 million euros ($74.02 million) a year.

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