Port of Felixstowe adds intermodal service to Yorkshire

Britain’s largest container port, the Port of Felixstowe, and GB Railfreight commenced a daily intermodal service between Felixstowe and Rotherham in the South Yorkshire area of central England.
Source: Port of Felixstowe

   The Port of Felixstowe, Britain’s largest container port, and GB Railfreight have launched a daily intermodal service between Felixstowe and Rotherham in the South Yorkshire area of central England.
   The new offering is the 33rd daily freight service operating at the Port of Felixstowe, reflecting the growth in demand by importers and exporters for rail as a transport option.
   The Port of Felixstowe, operated by Hong Kong’s Hutchison Port Holdings, is situated on the United Kingdom’s southeast coast.
   The new service departs from the North Rail Terminal, which was opened in 2013, and is the first one in the UK built to handle trains of up to 730 meters long, according to Hutchison Ports (UK).
   The GB Railfreight trains consist of 33 cars, but new “triple wagons” on order will make the train 45 cars long and increase the service’s capacity, Hutchinson Ports (UK) said. The triple-platform cars are designed to carry a 40-foot container on an outer platform and either one 40-foot box or two 20-foot containers on an inner platform.
   The intermodal terminal in Rotherham is owned and operated by DB Cargo, the rail freight division of Deutsche Bahn.
   Newell & Wright Transport, a provider of container trucking services, is the underlying customer for the service. Using rail reduces the need to send trucks all the way to the port for pick up and deliveries. The fleet can make shuttle runs between the rail terminal and local shippers instead.