It had been abandoned in the 2000s in favor of river tourism.
In October, three companies from Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) experimented with freight transport on the Canal du Midi, with the logistical and financial support of Voies Navigables de France (VNF).
From the Market of National Interest area in Lalande, a flat-bottomed barge loads refrigerated containers, containing fresh products, and takes the Canal des Deux Mers then the Canal du Midi to the Saint-Sauveur port, in the center of town. -City of Toulouse.
Four stops are scheduled on the journey, which lasts about an hour and a half.
Once at the dock for unloading, AppliColis, one of the three companies participating in the test, delivers these goods by cargo bike to restaurants and grocery stores in the Pink City.
The barge leaves with waste to be recycled
“This made it possible to test the logistics, schedules, synchronization of boats and delivery people, the height of the docks,” explains Vincent Monteil, co-founder of AppliColis, who thus made around ten trips in one month. The results are rather promising because it is a gentle mode, which avoids traffic jams and saves time. In order not to make the return trip empty, the barge leaves with green waste from the recycling and composting company Les Alchimistes and office products to be recycled from Green Buro ”. The green waste is then transported to the north of Toulouse, where Les Alchimistes make their compost on their treatment site in Fondeyre. Green Buro also benefits from this gentle transport to bring back used paper, cardboard boxes and printer cartridges to its recycling center located at the port of Lalande.
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Convinced of the importance of alternative solutions to the road to deliver in the city center, VNF, which maintains the Canal des deux mers, has launched a Call for expression of interest (AMI) to make this operation sustainable. Seven companies, including the three that took part in the experiment, applied for this offer which ended on October 31. “This is an opportunity for us to support these companies who want to develop new delivery logistics in the Toulouse hypercentre,” emphasizes Alexis Palmier, head of the development department at VNF Sud-Ouest. We therefore use VNF's two historic quays, Quai Saint-Sauveur and Quai Saint-Etienne, two important sites in the city center. This test made it possible to see if the landings were possible with the passage of cyclists and pedestrians.There will be improvements to the quays and boat equipment to be done, but it is rather conclusive ”. This river freight project on the Toulouse canals must gain momentum with the objective of setting up before the end of 2022.
