Commenting on the latest developments, Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Felixstowe, said: “The Port of Felixstowe already has greater rail capability than any other port in the UK. In 2014, we handled 890,000 TEU at our three rail terminals on the 60 arrivals or departures we have every day. Volumes by rail are continuing to grow and are now over 20% higher than before we opened the North Rail Terminal in 2013.
“The frequency of services we can offer makes rail a much more reliable and viable alternative to 17 destinations in the UK helping to reduce road congestion and allowing customers to strip carbon out of their supply chains. The new cranes will help us to move even greater volumes by rail in future.”
The new cranes are manufactured by Leibherr and have been co-financed by the European Union Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) programme. In total, Felixstowe has nine rail cranes and 16 tracks at its three terminals making it the largest intermodal rail facility in the UK.
Leading rail freight companies Freightliner, GB Railfreight and DB Schenker all operate rail services at Felixstowe. Regular rail services are run from Felixstowe to Birmingham, Manchester, Trafford Park, Scunthorpe, Hams Hall, Daventry, Wakefield, Bristol, Doncaster, Ditton, Liverpool, Selby, Leeds, Tilbury, Teesport, Burton-on-Trent and Coatbridge.