News - 3 October 2011
Port of Felixstowe celebrates 29th daily rail service
The Port of Felixstowe is celebrating its 29th daily rail service, which commenced on Saturday 1st October. The new service is operated by GB Railfreight, and runs to Barton Dock Manchester five days a week, complimenting the already extensive rail offering from the UK’s largest container port for shipping lines, importers and shippers to the strategically important North West market.
David Gledhill, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd which owns the Port of Felixstowe said: “The Port of Felixstowe offers the most comprehensive intermodal rail coverage of any UK port, with ten daily services to the North West, ten to the Midlands, six to Yorkshire terminals and others to Scotland, London, the North East and the West Country, and the addition of this train further enhances our position at the top of the market. "An increasing number of our customers are choosing rail as a more environmentally friendly alternative, and we have worked closely with GB Railfreight and other train operating companies to ensure there is an unrivalled choice of destination and frequency of services from Felixstowe.” The additional service has been made possible following completion of a significant investment programme to improve facilities at the port’s South Rail Terminal which has included the creation of new sidings, track re-laying, and the purchase of two new state-of-the-art Rail Mounted Gantry Cranes. Rail facilities at Felixstowe are to be further improved in 2012 with the construction of a third rail terminal on the port’s Trinity Terminal. The new terminal, to be co-financed by the European Union’s Trans European Network budget, will be the first in the UK designed to accommodate longer, 30-wagon, freight trains.
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