Maritime Transport introduces rail service between Tilbury2 and Manchester

Maritime Transport Ltd. is pleased to announce the launch of a new intermodal service in partnership with P&O Ferries, connecting TILBURY2 with the newly-refurbished Trafford Park Euroterminal in Manchester. Maritime’s latest addition to its intermodal offering commenced on Monday 4th July and provides carbon-reducing routes to and from the Northwest for the European short-sea and UK domestic markets, and further supports Maritime’s commitment to tackling climate change.

This latest service launched shortly after Maritime officially commenced operations at Hams Hall rail freight terminal, having signed a long-term lease with Associated British Ports (ABP) to operate the facility.

The Tilbury to Manchester service runs five days per week from Monday to Friday, capable of moving 45' pallet-wide, 40', and 20' deep-sea containers, with a total transport capacity of 80 TEU in each direction.

This new service continues to build on the long-standing relationship and commitments that Maritime has with both DB Cargo UK and Forth Ports.

Additionally, the commencement of a new daily connection will result in a considerable reduction in CO2 emissions, removing over 20,000 lorries from UK roads per year.

John Bailey, Managing Director – Intermodal and Terminals, Maritime Transport:

‘We are very proud to be working with Forth Ports & P&O Ferries and to see the beginning of our Tilbury – Trafford Park service, demonstrating our drive to engineer even more rail freight solutions for the market, and our hands-on approach to reducing not just our own carbon footprint, but that of our customers. Rail is the key to decarbonisation and we will continue to support modal shift by increasing the proportion of freight transported by rail.’

Maritime recently completed a two-year, redevelopment scheme at Trafford Park Euroterminal, transforming it into a state-of-the-art, strategic intermodal (rail/road) interchange. The £13.5m regeneration project involved substantive remediation of the 20-acre terminal, including repaving the container park, upgrading buildings, security, and new container handling equipment (six heavy-duty reach stackers for loaded container lifting and four empty container handlers). To support increased train throughput, the container park can now store up to 4,000 TEU.

The completed project was unveiled by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, on 26th May.

Thorsten Runge, Managing Director – Freight Services, P&O Ferries:

‘We are delighted to be hosting a direct rail link from TILBURY2 which will further increase options for importers and exporters. We are determined to make P&O Ferries the best ferry company in Europe - the best ships, the best routes, and the best value for freight customers - and providing vitally important trade routes for UK exporters and trading partners is central to our aim of making trade flow.’