Felixstowe to commence further rail upgrades

At the end of December work on the major refurbishment of Line 1 at the South Rail Terminal, with the entire 465 metres of track being replaced. This upgrade is expected to be completed by 5th January 2009. Chris Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, which owns the Port of Felixstowe, said, “We are committed to optimising environmentally-friendly rail transport opportunities for our customers. We have experienced very high volumes of rail traffic in recent months – breaking through the 9,000 rail moves per week threshold for the first time ever in September this year – and this highlights the need to improve freight capacity on the rail network so that more traffic can be distributed by sustainable modes.” The South Rail Terminal was extended by 39 metres on all three lines earlier in 2008 so it is now able to accommodate trains up to 22 wagons in length. The Port has also made a significant investment in providing the latest state-of-the-art equipment for the Terminal. A brand new rail-mounted gantry cranes became fully operational in October 2008.