Peel Ports launching ‘end-to-end’ rail container service at Port of Liverpool

Peel Ports is launching a new rail container service for businesses using the Port of Liverpool.

The firm is aiming to run the first services before the end of the year and is already in advanced contract discussions with a rail provider and shippers.

Peel said the offer represents its first ‘integrated’ package, giving shippers a direct route to market from quayside to anywhere in the UK served by major rail lines, and vice versa.

The service was presented on Tuesday (September 12) at a London International Shipping Week event hosted by Peel at the Lloyds Building.

Gary Hodgson, the company’s strategic projects director, said: “We have long prided ourselves on being more than just a network of ports providing excellent access to markets around the Irish Sea and close to the heart of the UK.

“This is the next step in our journey to provide shippers with a more integrated, end-to-end answer for their cargo needs. It’s also an important milestone in our evolution as a company and underlines how serious we are about being a genuine partner in the supply chain community.”

He continued: “There are generally good connections on routes heading north and south, but cross-country is a real problem. It’s long overdue that the east-west infrastructure was brought into the 21st Century so we can expand rail freight usage and reduce the impact of longer-distance road haulage.”