Provider of integrated road and rail freight logistics Maritime Transport has signed an exclusive agreement to develop, lease and operate Tritax Symmetry’s planned £750 million Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) at Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange (HNRFI).
The logistics provider will develop a 40-acre SRFI, which it says ‘will be capable of handling 16 trains per day when fully operational’.
Maritime Transport claims that at full capacity, the SRFI will ‘remove more than 83 million HGV miles from the UK road network’, which could lead to an annual saving of around 70,120 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
John Williams, executive chairman of Maritime Transport, said: “We are delighted to agree terms with Tritax Symmetry to become the long-term operator of the new SRFI, in planning, at HNRFI. This development will strengthen our rail-connected network and our strategy of decarbonising the full load supply chain in the UK, moving cargo closer to the end user by rail.
“Our strategy of decarbonising the supply chain will extend to the introduction of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to perform first- and final-mile transport, creating the most sustainable full load networked, intermodal logistics offering for occupiers at HNRFI and beyond.”
The HNRFI scheme is still awaiting the approval of a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the secretary of state for transport, with a decision expected to be made by September 2024.
Jonathan Wallis, director at Tritax Symmetry, commented: “Maritime Transport’s commitment to an SRFI at this early stage is a significant first in the sector and reflects ultimate confidence in the location’s suitability for rail freight from the leading road and rail freight location provider in the UK.
“Alongside Maritime Transport’s fully-fledged support, we are excited by the potential of this prime location for rail-linked logistics, which we believe will see strong demand for large-scale, flexible, modern, low-carbon space.”
Maritime Transport currently operates over 40 logistics sites across the UK and, on 10 April 2024, it announced that it had signed an agreement to become the long-term operator at the West Midlands Interchange (WMI) SRFI.
Upon the announcement of the deal at WMI, Williams noted: “We have already substantially increased container movements by rail, from 6% in 2019 to over 24% in 2023.”
Maggie Simpson, director general at Rail Freight Group, added: “The development of a national network of strategic rail freight interchanges is paramount to ensuring the long-term future viability of the UK government’s target to enhance modal shift of freight from road to rail.
“We are encouraged by Tritax and Maritime’s commitment to rail freight, and this display of support for the UK’s latest SRFI before the DCO decision is determined is extremely welcome for advancement of sustainable, rail-based logistics.”
Shifting from road transport to rail freight and multimodal transport has been key for some major companies in the UK. In April 2023, IKEA announced that it was working with partners on a project to deliver its products using a non-stop rail route in Europe covering a distance of around 2,000km in an effort to decarbonise its supply chain.
Furthermore, Nestlé UK and Ireland successfully completed the first double-stacked rail freight delivery to Tesco in August 2023. This was part of its rail freight trial, aiming to reduce emissions through stacking twice as much stock on a train, meaning fewer journeys need to be made.
A 2021 report from the Rail Delivery Group found that rail freight produces, on average, 76% fewer emissions than road transport which, it claims, equates to an reduction of around 1.4 million tonnes of CO₂ nationally.
To find out how you can make your supply chain more sustainable and what benefits this can bring, register now for Logistics Manager’s Sustainable Supply Chain Conference.
This one-day face-to-face event will allow delegates to hear directly from industry-leading speakers how business sustainability can influence their bottom line.
