In France, waterways had been losing market shares since the 1970s. However, against many predictions, barge
transport has proved, during the last decade, that it could meet the growing market shares and increased tonnages
even in times of economic difficulties. Between 1997 and 2010, waterway traffic in France registered a 30%
growth. In 2009, about 60 million tons have been transported on the domestic river system. This recent growth was
experienced for both "historic" commodities such as cereal crops (+ 70%) or chemistry (+ 27%), and more recent
ones such as containers