What ECORAIL Transport does

ECORAIL Transport is a French rail freight carrier that operates train traction services on the national network (Réseau Ferré National / SNCF Réseau), with a focus on bulk commodity transport for industrial shippers. Founded in 2014 (or 2010 per the company's own anniversary statement), it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CAPTRAIN France (formerly VFLI) and an operating member of the CAPTRAIN Europe network spanning ten Western and Central European countries. The company is headquartered in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps (Indre-et-Loire) and runs operations from three sites in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Thouars (Deux-Sèvres), and Valenton (Val-de-Marne), dispatching 11 to 13 locomotives with a headcount of approximately 44 to 50 staff.

ECORAIL Transport's core offering is railway freight traction across three product lines: quarry products (aggregates, sand, gravel) for construction and infrastructure projects, cereals from silos to processing plants and port terminals, and agri-food products (including bottled water for Nestlé Waters France). The company holds a Certificat de Sécurité Unique (CSU) issued by EPSF, renewed in July 2021 for five years and extended in March 2023 to cover dangerous goods. Proprietary technology is limited to SECOT, a safety and competency management software co-developed with YANOVA in 2021 that integrates risk-based compliance with production systems. The company also orchestrates last-kilometer road transport for shippers needing complete end-to-end logistics.

Revenue is generated on a transaction-fee basis: clients pay per shipment priced on tonnage, distance, and service requirements. Customers are predominantly B2B industrial shippers, with named enterprise clients including Carrières Kleber Moreau (350,000 tonnes/year on the Mazières-Brassens route), Carrières Roy (70,000 tonnes/year), Carrière de Luché, Matériaux Routiers du Val de Marne, Société des Enrobés de Gennevilliers, Nestlé Waters France, MESEA, SEVT (Syndicat d'eau du Val de Thouet), and Aéroport d'Orly. Go-to-market is direct B2B sales via site-based commercial teams, supplemented by SITL trade show presence and earned media in regional and trade press. The company moves more than 2 million tonnes of cargo and over 1,000 in-house trains per year, with marquee projects spanning Aéroport d'Orly Runway 3 (100,000+ tonnes), the SEVT pipeline (1,735 pipe sections, 21.8 km) and LGV Paris-Bordeaux maintenance ballast contracts.

Name

ECORAIL Transport

Legal name

ECORAIL TRANSPORT

Website

https://ecorailtransport.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ECORAIL Transport is a French rail freight carrier and CAPTRAIN Europe member providing railway traction for aggregates, cereals, and agri-food products. Operating from three French sites with about 50 staff and 11-13 locomotives, it serves industrial shippers including Carrières Kleber Moreau, Nestlé Waters, and Aéroport d'Orly.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rail Freight Services

NAICS

Line-Haul Railroads (482111), Rail Transportation (482)

SIC

Railroads, Line-Haul Operating (4011)

akta.pro primary industry

Dry Bulk Rail Freight (Unit Trains) (TLADAKAB)

Keywords

• Rail freight transport
• Aggregate logistics
• Cereal rail transport
• Agri-food freight
• Freight traction services

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint-pierre-des-corps

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Railway freight transport (fret railway): ECORAIL Transport generates revenue by providing railway freight traction services, transporting goods (aggregates, cereals, agri-food products) on behalf of chargeurs. Revenue is earned through freight fees charged per shipment or contract, based on tonnage, distance, and service requirements. The company also coordinates last-kilometer road transport as part of its end-to-end offering.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ECORAIL Transport is a French railway freight carrier that transports aggregates, cereals, and agri-food products by train across the national SNCF Réseau. The company uses its own locomotives and qualified personnel (train conductors, ground operators) to organize full end-to-end shipping including last-kilometer road transport when required. Services are quoted per shipment based on tonnage, distance, cargo type, frequency, and routing.

Product overview

ECORAIL Transport operates as a unified railway freight transport service offering three main transport solutions: quarry/aggregate transport, cereal transport, and agri-food transport. The company also developed SECOT, a proprietary safety management software. All services operate on the French national railway network (SNCF) with the support of the European CAPTRAIN network. The company provides complete logistics including road transport for 'last kilometer' delivery when necessary, and holds a Certificat de Sécurité Unique (CSU) authorizing operations across the entire national rail network.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Transport de produits de carrière (Quarry/Aggregate Transport) Railway freight transport of quarry products including aggregates, mineral raw materials, gravel, and ballast for construction and infrastructure projects (roads, motorways, high-speed rail lines, airports, buildings). Clients include Carrières Kleber Moreau, Carrières Roy, Carrière de Luché, MRVM, Société des Enrobés de Gennevilliers, MESEA, and Aéroport d'Orly.
• Transport de céréales (Cereal Transport) Railway transport of cereals and grains from inland silos to processing plants and to major French port terminals, handling seasonal harvest peaks and serving grain traders and agricultural cooperatives.
• Transport agroalimentaire (Agri-food Transport) Railway transport of agri-food products including raw materials and finished goods (e.g., bottled water, food-grade commodities), with safety and product-conservation precautions. Used during COVID-19 to ensure daily Nestlé Waters France supply from Vittel to Montreuil Bellay.
• Fret Ferroviaire (Rail Freight) with last-kilometer road delivery Core end-to-end rail freight service operating across the French national railway network (SNCF Réseau), handling full delivery of goods including 'last kilometer' road transport when required. Includes dangerous goods transport following the Safety Certificate (CSU) updated in March 2023, and pipeline/utility project logistics (e.g., the SEVT 21.8 km pipeline project transporting 1,735 pipe sections of 6m each).

Quantifiable outcome

• Rail freight emits 3 to 4 times fewer greenhouse gases than road or air transport per unit of cargo.
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CAPTRAIN EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021ECORAIL Transport is a member of the CAPTRAIN Europe network, a European railway freight network operating in France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, and the Czech Republic. In February 2021, VFLI (ECORAIL Transport's parent/reference shareholder) was rebranded as Captrain France, integrating the subsidiary into the pan-European CAPTRAIN brand. The network enables ECORAIL Transport to access international freight corridors and coordinate with sister companies across Europe.
• SNCF RéseaucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerECORAIL Transport maintains a permanent relationship with SNCF Réseau (formerly Réseaux Ferré de France) for track access, train slot coordination, and network management. The company coordinates daily with EIC APC (Établissement d'Instruction de la Circulation – Adaptation des Procédures) for train scheduling, GOST (Gestion des Obligations de Service Transitional) platform usage, and DUNE (voie de débord) slot reservations. The partnership is critical for route planning and incident management.
• ForwardisminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorForwardis (rail and more) is listed as a client reference for ECORAIL Transport, suggesting a commercial relationship where Forwardis serves as a freight forwarding or rail logistics intermediary routing cargo through ECORAIL's rail services.
• VFLI (now Captrain France)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVFLI (subsidiary of SNCF and parent company, rebranded as Captrain France in February 2021) is ECORAIL Transport's reference shareholder and operational partner. VFLI/Captrain France provides locomotives and traction resources that ECORAIL Transport leverages for certain operations. The partnership was instrumental during the COVID-19 period for ensuring continuity of Nestlé Waters France water supply via VFLI locomotives.
• CAPTRAIN FrancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAPTRAIN France (formerly VFLI, 100% subsidiary of Captrain) is listed as a client reference alongside ECORAIL Transport for aggregate transport operations. The two entities coordinate on certain freight routes and share commercial and operational resources within the Captrain network.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BLS Cargo: BLS Cargo is a Swiss/European rail freight operator focusing on Alpine transit and cross-border corridors. It serves a similar enterprise shipper base with intermodal and bulk rail services, comparable to ECORAIL's positioning within the CAPTRAIN Europe network.
• SBB Cargo: SBB Cargo is the Swiss national rail freight operator serving Alpine and cross-border European corridors. While primarily Swiss, it competes on international freight flows and offers similar traction-based dry bulk and intermodal services to ECORAIL's CAPTRAIN Europe network reach.
• Captrain Deutschland: Captrain Deutschland is a sister CAPTRAIN Europe network operator providing freight rail services across Germany and into neighboring countries. As part of the same network, it cooperates with ECORAIL on cross-border freight and is an adjacent peer in the European private rail freight market.
• DB Cargo France: DB Cargo France is the French subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn's freight division, offering line-haul freight rail services across France and Europe. It competes with ECORAIL on bulk and industrial freight corridors and brings broader European network reach.
• CAPTRAIN France: CAPTRAIN France (formerly VFLI) is ECORAIL Transport's parent company and a broader rail freight operator. CAPTRAIN France offers a wider portfolio of traction services across industrial sidings, heavy freight, and intermodal across France, overlapping with ECORAIL's core bulk freight operations.

Direct peers

• Lineas: Lineas is a private European rail freight operator with operations in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, and Italy. It offers comparable line-haul freight services to industrial shippers, with similar EPSF-equivalent regulatory setup and asset-light operational model.
• TXT (formerly Transalliance): Transalliance (now TXT) is a France-based rail freight and intermodal operator providing traction and end-to-end logistics services. It directly competes with ECORAIL in French industrial freight, including aggregate transport and intermodal flows, with overlapping enterprise customer base.
• Euro Cargo Rail: Euro Cargo Rail operates open-access freight rail services across France and Europe, providing competitive line-haul and intermodal services to industrial shippers. Its product portfolio and customer segments overlap directly with ECORAIL Transport's aggregate and bulk freight business.
• Fret SNCF: Fret SNCF is the historical French national rail freight operator, directly competing with ECORAIL Transport on the same French national rail network serving enterprise shippers across bulk, industrial, and intermodal segments. It is the largest incumbent private rail freight competition in France.

Others

• Forwardis: Forwardis is a rail freight forwarding and digital platform subsidiary of SNCF, serving as an intermediary between shippers and rail operators. It is a listed commercial partner of ECORAIL and operates in the same French rail freight ecosystem, though its business model is intermediation rather than traction.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ecorailtransport
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ecorail-transport

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ECORAIL Transport