The UK’s Port of Felixstowe has opened a new rail terminal which sees the container port’s rail capacity double.
The £40m investment in the new North Rail Terminal is part of scheme, which includes new Berths 8 and 9 opened in November 2011, to increase capacity at the port.
“Rail is becoming the mode of choice for an increasing number of shipping lines, forwarders and shippers to move their goods to and from ports. It provides cost, environmental and reliability benefits for many customers and the Port of Felixstowe offers more rail services, to more destinations, more often than any other UK port,” said Clemence Cheng, CEO of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, which owns the Port of Felixstowe.
“The new North Rail Terminal will increase still further our rail capability. By allowing us to run longer trains, as well as more of them, it will allow users of the port to improve the efficiency of their supply chains and at the same time reducing cost for them,” he added.
Co-financed by the European Union Trans-European Transport Network (TENT-T) programme, the new rail terminal allows the port to accommodate trains of up to 35 wagons length.
A total of 10 km of new track has been laid for the terminal, providing nine additional tracks, making a total of 20 tracks at the port.
