Rail Minister opens new multi-million-pound rail investment at the Port Of Southampton
The Minister for Rail and HS2, Huw Merriman, officially opened the new Solent Rail Terminal marking the completion of the £17.5 million partnership investment between Associated British Ports (ABP) and Solent Stevedores.
Alastair Welch, Regional Director of ABP Southampton, Stuart Cullen, Executive Chairman of Solent Stevedores, Rail Minister Hew Merriman, Fiona Robson, Managing Director of Solent Stevedores and Mark Hooper, Rail and Containers Director of Solent Stevedores at the Solent Rail Terminal opening.
The multi-million-pound rail upgrade project, which strengthens Southampton’s leading position as the UK’s number one gateway for deep-sea trade, took 18 months to complete. This significant milestone was marked with a plaque unveiling at an event for rail freight and maritime leaders and customers on 20 March at the Solent Stevedores’ operated Solent Rail Terminal in the western docks.
This major investment into the future of rail at the port has created an 18-acre facility expanding the intermodal rail transport site to broaden the service offer with laden and empty container handling, storage, maintenance, and repair within a single-site boundary – a first for the Port of Southampton.
Features of the new site include a newly designed track layout facilitating simultaneous train arrival and departures increasing the terminal’s efficiency and extending the rail loading pad by 130m. The larger intermodal site including container storage with full maintenance and repair facilities will be able to handle a 71% increase in daily services with a 125% increase in number of containers handled.
This new offering for deep sea shipping lines has already won an award for Driving Rail Freight Growth at the RFG Awards last year recognising companies that have helped boost rail freight growth providing a benefit to the environment and economy. Read more from the Rail Forum >
Related topic: Government sets ambitious target to grow rail freight by at least 75%
It’s also a critical freight corridor and earlier this month a new service began sharing those tracks. It may not be quite as prestigious as the famous express, but the destination is the birthplace of the renowned steam locomotive. Given the Government’s announcement of its ambitious target to grow rail freight by at least 75%, we at IFS are thrilled to share this news.
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The target will boost economic growth and lead to significant environmental benefits by taking lorries off our roads, cutting emissions and congestion in the process.