The French and Basque governments are looking into the possibility of extending the Atlantic rail ‘motorway’ to Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain).

The planned route will begin in the Pas-de-Calais department in north-east France and reach the French and Spanish border in the French Basque country.

Expanding the route to the Jundiz freight depot at Vitoria-Gasteiz is dependent on the completion of the Basque ‘Y’, which is a high-speed rail network connecting the three largest Basque cities of Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastian and Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The Basque country’s Deputy Minister for Transport, Antonio Aiz, claimed that the route would be a great benefit for sustainable freight in the EU during a visit to the city of Le Boulou in the Languedoc region.

Le Boulou is the southern terminus for the Mediterranean rail corridor which runs between Luxembourg and the southern French city of Perpignan, and which could be a model for the Atlantic region.