A new Trans Pennine rail freight link operating between Teesport and Manchester’s Trafford Park has successfully completed its first service.
The new service could see up to 40 heavy vehicle movements removed from the congested Trans Pennine road network for each one-way service, with the aim of helping customers from both the North East and the North West cut carbon emissions and reduce delays.
The five day a week return service is initially being run as a trial, part of a collaboration between Direct Rail Services (DRS) and PD Ports, which operates a dedicated rail freight terminal from the heart of Tees Dock.
The service will directly link Teesport, and the wider North East, with Manchester Trafford Park rail freight terminal for the first time transporting modern high cube containers, offering extra capacity and increased efficiencies for the supply chain.
The service has utilised ultra-low IDA wagons, which allow customers to move high cube containers, measuring 9’6’’ in height compared to standard 8’6’’, over non-gauge enhanced and height-restricted routes across the Pennines for the first time.
Jo Edmenson, PD Ports’ key account manager for rail freight services, said: “Trans Pennine connections for operators looking to move goods across the country have been confined to road freight for many years due to the constraints of the rail network, with height restrictions at stations, bridges and tunnels causing a number of issues.
“There is much anticipation about the Trans Pennine upgrade, which will hopefully remove many of those blockages, but with a completion date of 2030, we felt that was too long to wait when we considered the importance of rail freight as a means of decarbonising the supply chain and removing road movements from congested major routes.
“We’re excited to partner with DRS to offer this new service, direct from the UK’s sixth largest port to the heart of the North West. The route opens up a major new connection between the two regions and offers alternative means of shipping goods into the east coast of the UK and onwards, with the same true for exports.”
Gottfried Eymer, DRS’s managing director for rail, said: “This new trial offers a new route to customers who may not have considered rail before. It is an open access service which will amalgamate different customers to one train, saving time and cost.
“Rail is much more environmentally friendly when compared to road, producing up to 76% fewer CO2 emissions, while each train can remove up to 40 HGVs from the roads, reducing congestion.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for customers new to rail and we’d welcome anyone considering a switch to rail to get in touch.”
