Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris recently joined representatives of Maritime Transport and Segro (www.segro.com) — plus more than 350 guests from around the East Midlands region — to mark the official opening of the new strategic rail freight interchange
at Segro Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway.

This is the first dedicated service between East Midlands Gateway and the Port of Felixstowe, operated by Maritime Intermodal ( a sub-division of Maritime Transport).

The 17-acre open-access terminal — capable of handling up to 16 775m-long freight trains daily and providing storage capacity for over 5,000 TEU containers — is the first to connect to the Castle Donington freight line, providing direct access to the UK’s network of rail freight interchanges and all major UK ports.

Mr Heaton-Harris said: “The rail freight sector is vital to the UK, not only supporting economic growth and international transport links but also driving down emissions by removing around seven million lorry journeys a year from Britain’s roads.

“This new Gateway provides direct access to the UK’s major ports, demonstrating that Britain is open for business.”

John Williams, executive chairman of Maritime Transport, said: “Opening our new rail terminal at East Midlands Gateway is an extremely proud occasion for Maritime (www.maritimetransport.com).

"This great facility that we have jointly created with Segro will further enable us to offer a full end-to-end UK logistics solution to our customers.

"We have seen promising demand already, and we are confident of its success.”

East Midlands Gateway is Maritime Transport’s fifth rail terminal to date.

It uses resources consisting of three loaded reach stackers and two empty container handlers to ensure quick turnround times.

It will eventually have a three-storey 20,000ft² headquarters for Maritime Intermodal staff, ‘state of the art’ training facilities and parking for up to 100 trucks.