New Felixstowe-to-West Midlands rail offering launched

Maritime Transport has launched a new intermodal service this week hauled by GB Railfreight (GBRf), connecting its Birmingham Intermodal Freight Terminal (BIFT) with the Port of Felixstowe.

With a shortage of more than 100,000 lorry drivers in the UK causing disruption to supply chains, Maritime’s latest service provides additional capacity to ensure goods can continue to move across the UK.

Maritime’s third train to run from the Port of Felixstowe to BIFT commenced today, 10th January. The new service – which has increased Maritime’s Felixstowe to West Midlands capacity by 40% – runs five days per week from Tuesday to Saturday, with a total transport capacity of 87 TEU in each direction.

Maritime has invested more than €5 million in container handling equipment at BIFT since acquiring the terminal back in 2014, which now benefits from two Konecranes Noell N SC 644 E straddle carriers, two Kalmar ESC450 straddle carriers, and two Sany SDCY100K6GC empty container handlers, delivering industry-leading turnaround times and unrivalled service reliability.

To facilitate growing container volumes across its intermodal network, Maritime has ordered additional container handling machinery due to arrive throughout 2022, including six Sany reach stackers and three Kalmar reach stackers.

“Increasing the proportion of traffic moving by rail is an important part of our strategy to offer the widest possible range of sustainable transport options through the Port of Felixstowe,” commented Robert Ashton, Operations Director, Port of Felixstowe. “We are investing in new plant and equipment as part of our own drive towards net-zero and are working with partners, including GB Railfreight and Maritime Transport to help others remove carbon from their supply chains.With three dedicated rail terminals at the port we offer more rail services to more inland destinations with greater frequency than any other UK port.”

“The shift to rail freight has a fundamental part to play in tackling carbon emissions and climate change, and it’s great to see businesses choosing rail as a greener alternative, without compromising on operational efficiency and reliability,” added John Smith, Managing Director, GB Railfreight.