Lille’s ports targeting territorial integration

While the Urban Multimodal Distribution Centre is taking time to get up to speed, the task of integrating Ports de Lille into the metropolitan and regional fabric is more strategically important than ever. Relying on 12 sites along the wide canals of the Hauts-de-France region, Ports de Lille is looking for innovative ways to meet the needs of logistics operators, who are faced with the daily challenges posed by e-commerce at the heart of France’s fourth-largest city. Alain Lefebvre, Chief Executive of Ports de Lille, gives us more insight into the relationship between these ports and the territory in which they are based. The Urban Multimodal Distribution Centre will turn five years old in 2020. It has been the starting point for a port integration strategy that is in effect daily across the Lille area. What is your verdict on these first five years? As France’s fourth largest inland port in terms of tonnage, Ports de Lille aims to position itself as a responsible, committed operator within the metropolitan landscape. Aware of the challenges posed by changing modes of consumption and the impact of goods transport in urban environments, in 2015 we invested in the construction of an Urban Multimodal Distribution Centre (known by the initials CMDU). Our aim was to provide a facility for mass transport of goods from outside the city, by water, rail or road, and then their distribution to outlets inside the city. Sited in a densely built-up area, the CMDU is a real asset for ecomobility, helping to ease congestion in the city of Lille and optimise last mile logistics. The CMDU has good road, rail and river connections, and is a genuine logistics platform serving the needs of traders, retailers and transporters in the city. Unfortunately, given the lack of institutional support, the CMDU has been unable to carve out a real…