The post you are reporting:
Calais has been linked to the Trans Siberian Railway ever since it was constructed and joined to the continental railway network. Dover has been linked to the Trans Siberian Railway since 1994 when the Channel Tunnel rail tunnels were opened.
I put the following post on another thread some time ago in response to this statement by Roger: " What you say about Calais and the berths there may well be true Ed. but I understand that they are accessing EU funds to also build a massive rail-head there to match the freight traffic that will be coming through from the railways that stretch back to China."
Not sure that the "massive railhead" has much relevance to Dover, Roger. The continental railways have always been connected to the Trans Siberian Railway, albeit via a change of gauge. Since the Channel Tunnel was built, the British railways have also been connected so there is no problem running trains from Glasgow to Vladivostok should anybody see a need.
The Russians are spending billions on upgrading the Trans Siberian Railway to improve access to imports from China. There is a niche market there for France or the UK to obtain high value goods in a week or so instead of the three or four weeks a container ship takes, but at a premium. The latest boxboats carry 18,000 TEU which is equivalent to a line of 9,000 forty foot containers on articulated trucks stretching from Dover to London. This with a crew of less than a score as compared with the countless trains that would be needed to carry all this with a cast of thousands of train crew, signalmen, track layers and the rest. Therefore the rail option is always going to be very expensive.
The railhead at Calais is, of course, not for transferring railway wagons onto ships. The railway berths and ferries are history, replaced by the direct rail link under the Channel. It is for transferring freight from rail to road. The photos mainly show serried ranks of cars which are driven onto a ferry service which has been transporting export cars from Calais to Sheerness for many years.
