New rail freight connects Teesport to Manchester

A new rail freight service between Teesport and Manchester’s Trafford Park has launched, offering a greener and more efficient alternative to road transport.

The service, a collaboration between Direct Rail Services (DRS) and PD Ports, aims to cut congestion on the Trans Pennine route by removing up to 40 heavy vehicle movements per journey. 

Utilising ultra-low IDA wagons, the service can transport modern high cube containers, measuring 9’6’’ in height compared to standard 8’6’’, offering increased capacity and supply chain efficiencies. 

Running five days a week on a trial basis, it also provides a direct rail link between the North East and North West for the first time, with bosses saying the service is “much more environmentally friendly” and will significantly “save time and cost”. 

Gottfried Eymer, DRS’s managing director for rail, said: “This new trial offers a new route to customers who may not have considered rail before. 

“It is an open access service which will amalgamate different customers to one train, saving time and cost.

“Rail is much more environmentally friendly when compared to road, producing up to 76 per cent fewer CO2 emissions, while each train can remove up to 40 HGVs from the roads, reducing congestion.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for customers new to rail and we’d welcome anyone considering a switch to rail to get in touch.”

Teesport’s extensive European shipping connections, including direct links to Iberia, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland and the Netherlands, will further enhance trade accessibility.

The link also accommodates 45ft containers, expanding short sea shipping opportunities for businesses relying on RoRo and LoLo services at Teesport.

Jo Edmenson, PD Ports’ key account manager for rail freight services, added: “Trans Pennine connections for operators looking to move goods across the country have been confined to road freight for many years due to the constraints of the rail network, with height restrictions at stations, bridges and tunnels causing a number of issues.

“There is much anticipation about the Trans Pennine upgrade, which will hopefully remove many of those blockages, but with a completion date of 2030, we felt that was too long to wait when we considered the importance of rail freight as a means of decarbonising the supply chain and removing road movements from congested major routes.

“We’re excited to partner with DRS to offer this new service, direct from the UK’s sixth largest port to the heart of the North West. 

“The route opens up a major new connection between the two regions and offers alternative means of shipping goods into the east coast of the UK and onwards, with the same true for exports.”

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