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Rail firm in seventh heaven

[ September 2, 2015   //   ]

GB Railfreight has added its seventh daily rail service from Felixstowe, to Birch Coppice, Birmingham. It is also the 31st daily rail service to operate out of the port. It runs to Birmingham Intermodal Freight Terminal (BIFT), owned by container transport company Maritime Transport [2]. It is also the first train to serve this route from Felixstowe.
The port’s chief executive Clemence Cheng, said that Felixstowe was the country’s biggest intermodal rail facility, handling close to 900,000teu in 2014.He added: “This record volume was achieved by the investment we made in our newest terminal, the North Rail Terminal, and the dedicated employees in our rail team working closely with our customers and Network Rail to improve on our efficiency and the handling of longer trains. The 30+ wagon trains that run from there are the longest intermodal trains in the UK.”
Capacity at the North Rail Terminal is being further enhanced by two new rail-mounted gantry cranes. Co-financed by the European Union Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) programme, they bring to nine the number of gantry cranes serving the port’s three rail terminals.
John Smith, Managing Director of GB Railfreight, added: “The winning of our seventh slot is an important milestone as it enables us to further expand our capacity, helping us to continue to meet the demand from our customers and support the growth of the intermodal rail freight market and its potential to take freight off the roads.”
Regular rail services also run from Felixstowe to Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Teesport, Birmingham, Doncaster, Tilbury, Selby, Hams Hall, Daventry, Wakefield, Ditton (Widnes), Burton, Scunthorpe and Bristol.

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