Moving freight on to the rails

Use it or lose it! That’s the message from the Low Carbon Freight Dividend team.

How often do we hear complaints that there isn’t much support or funding for the transport sector? Well, it’s time for SMEs to step up and be counted … make a green choice and pick up some real financial help.

The target of the LCFD project is to move 30,000 containers off the roads over the next three years. And as we work with SMEs to achieve that, we are delighted to see substantial investment in improving rail freight capacity in the East of England, particularly for containers heading to and from the Port of Felixstowe – the country’s largest container port by far.

The construction of Hutchison Ports UK’s euro37 million new North Rail Terminal is well under way at Felixstowe; this will dramatically increase rail capacity at a time when logistics operators are looking for low-carbon transport options.

The new rail terminal – the port’s third – will open with three gantry cranes, eventually increasing to six, and then it will have doubled rail terminal capacity within the port. It is also designed to handle longer 30-wagon freight trains.

Felixstowe already has the UK’s busiest intermodal rail terminal and it has recently set another throughput record, handling over 17,000 teu by rail in a single week.

The Haven Gateway has supported Felixstowe in campaigning for the upgrading of the Felixstowe to Nuneaton (F2N) rail line, to create massive new capacity for moving containers to and from the port by rail. Network Rail has completed the first phase of work, and has said that further investment in F2N is a top priority in the forthcoming round of investments.

Last month the government announced its £9.4 billion programme of rail improvements – and it included specific projects at Ely, Peterborough and Leicester. In addition, Network Rail announced that £3m of European funding has been granted to build freight loops near Ely, as part of the F2N freight route. Installing the 775 metre loops will increase capacity, improve reliability and allow longer trains to be run, it said.

Network Rail also pointed out: without the railway, the anticipated demand in freight traffic over the next 30 years would mean an extra 1.5 million lorry journeys on Britain’s roads each year.

In case you need reminding, the £7.5 million Low Carbon Freight Dividend project, supported by nearly £3 million from the European Regional Development Fund, offers eligible SMEs in the East of England a grant of up to 30% for shifting their containers from road to rail. It also provides practical support and advice, through personal contact and a series of workshops focusing on freight optimisation and low carbon marketing issues.

So what are you waiting for? You don’t have to be in the transport sector – any SME that moves freight in containers could be eligible for this unique project.


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