AP Moller – Maersk has reached an agreement with GB Railfreight, the third largest rail freight operator in the United Kingdom, to operate a rail service from Felixstowe to Newell & Wright in Tinsley, near Sheffield, all working days in the week.
The Port of Felixstowe has been under pressure due to the various disruptions affecting the supply chain such as Brexit, Covid-19 and the recent vessel blockage at the Suez Canal, according to managing director for UK & Ireland at Maersk, Jeremy Haycock, who believes that this new agreement will help the Danish carrier to “offer more reliable and flexible end-to-end services to both local as well as global importers and exporters.”
This new service will incorporate new eco-fret wagons from the German company VTG Aktiengesellschaft, which maximise the number of 20 and 40ft containers that can be carried on a train, providing customers an eco-friendlier alternative to traditional wagons.
The Port of Felixstowe is Britain’s biggest and busiest container port with approximately 50% of traffic between Felixstowe and the North of England moving by rail.
“Expanding our rail footprint from Felixstowe is key for us to increase supply chain flexibility for our customers through the current challenging times and help them addressing their individual specific logistics needs as the business condition and pandemic continue to evolve” added Haycock.
