Improved security to prevent refugees boarding trains heading for the UK has helped freight traffic through the Channel Tunnel increase by more than 40 per cent.
English Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) said it operated 43 per cent more freight services last month than November last year.
New measures, including a strengthened fence, at the Frthun rail yard near Calais had helped cut the number of refugees stowing away on wagons.
However, a spokesman for EWS said although conditions had improved, the company was far from being able to provide a full service.
He said the yard still had restricted hours of operation because French police were only present for 13 hours a day. The company only ran about 50 per cent of its potential service in November.
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