Freight News, Road

TNT runs London rail trial: updated

[ June 6, 2014   //   Chris ]

TNT Express operated a trial freight train from Rugby to London Euston Station on the night of 4/5 June. Run in conjunction with Colas Rail, Network Rail and Transport for London, the specially-commissioned train of parcels vans carried supplies for Staples and Bristan. The goods were sorted on the platform side – Euston used to be a major mail and parcels hub for the railways before the traffic ceased around 20 years ago – and delivered to hundreds of stores/suppliers throughout the capital by a fleet of waiting electric and zero-emission delivery vehicles.

While the trial train originated from Rugby, TNT Express’ long-term plan would be to consider developing high-speed, long-distance services from locations including its largest sorting hub at Kingsbury (Warwickshire), which already has direct rail access.
The trial is being sponsored by mode shift specialists Intermodality, which has been involved with the European Commission and other stakeholders in a series of projects to encourage greater use of rail and more sustainable city logistics options in moving freight.

Director of operations, TNT Express UK & Ireland, Simon Harper, said: “We are very keen to understand whether, by potentially supplementing our core road network with selected rail services where feasible, we may be able to better support our customers and their businesses with an even faster and more reliable service.”

http://www.tnt.com/express/en_gb/site/home.html

Tags: Intermodality, TNT