DRS launches Trans-Pennine freight with ultra-low IDA
5th February 2025
DRS No 68033 at Teesport on 3 February.
DRS/Simon Richmond
Direct Rail Services is operating a trial freight from Teesport to Trafford Park using ultra-low IDA wagons meaning that standard high-cube containers can be carried. This is a first for the route. The first train ran on 3 February, hauled by DRS No 68033 The Poppy.
The train runs from the PD Ports terminal at Teesport and will initially operate for 12 weeks. DRS said that if the trial is a success then the flow will become permanent. The train leaves Teesport at 15.25, running via the East Coast main line to Colton Junction before heading to Castleford, Wakefield Kirkgate, Healey Mills, Mirfield, Huddersfield, Stalybridge and Manchester Piccadilly.
It arrives at 00.12. The return departs Trafford Park at 04.30, arriving at 09.07. The trains run five days a week.
Gottfried Eymer, NTS Managing Director for Rail, said: 'This 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.' Jo Edmenson, PD Ports Key Account Manager for Rail Freight Services, said: '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.'