Proposed 'East Midlands Intermodal Park'

[Harbon 1]

Evening all,

We has a letter pushed through our door detailing a proposal for a 'Strategic Rail Freight Terminal' located directly south of Toyota's Burnaston plant, adjacent to Burnaston Interchange or "Toyota Island" on the A38 and A50, connected by rail to the Stoke - Derby line.

The information given in the brochure given out to the areas where the consultations will be undertaken can be found on the project's website here.

As the majority of the forum don't live within 10 miles of me, you will have probably heard nothing about it, but I thought it was a point for discussion non the less.

I can see Toyota having a look at using the new railhead to transport cars out of the midlands on the 'blue sausage' wagons if there are any spare in the future, but although it looks like it's been designed with Toyota in mind, it doesn't really go well with their 'just in time' philosophy.

Does anyone have any more background on the proposal?

 

[RichmondCommu]

It's worth mentioning here that there is a similar rail linked facility at Castle Donnington near the airport which has never seen a freight train of any description, at least to my knowledge. There was a lot of talk that Marks & Spencer planned to use the terminal in the same way that Tesco use Daventry but nothing has ever come of it. My sister lives in Egginton so I assume that she will have also received a letter. As others have recently pointed out on another thread started by myself Toyota appear to have no interest in transporting cars by rail.

 

[Harbon 1]

It's worth mentioning here that there is a similar rail linked facility at Castle Donnington near the airport which has never seen a freight train of any description, at least to my knowledge. There was a lot of talk that Marks & Spencer planned to use the terminal in the same way that Tesco use Daventry but nothing has ever come of it. My sister lives in Egginton so I assume that she will have also received a letter. As others have recently pointed out on another thread started by myself Toyota appear to have no interest in transporting cars by rail.

There is also the terminal in Burton which I personally have never seen used on any regular basis so they seem to be trying to get more freight starting in this area by building a flash new terminal.

If Toyota still have no intention of transporting cars by rail should this go ahead, then I can't really see it being used much as it's in a strange place for intermodal trains, as coming from the south they'd have to reverse to gain access from the Birmingham - Derby line, to provide freight to what is almost the middle of nowhere. Unless there is a lot of container traffic suddenly going to Derby or Burton, it's a bit of a strange idea.

 

[Mugby]

The developers have said that it could create 7,000 jobs.

And the local press, local councillors etc. have been stupid enough to believe them!

 

[RichmondCommu]

There is also the terminal in Burton which I personally have never seen used on any regular basis so they seem to be trying to get more freight starting in this area by building a flash new terminal.

If Toyota still have no intention of transporting cars by rail should this go ahead, then I can't really see it being used much as it's in a strange place for intermodal trains, as coming from the south they'd have to reverse to gain access from the Birmingham - Derby line, to provide freight to what is almost the middle of nowhere. Unless there is a lot of container traffic suddenly going to Derby or Burton, it's a bit of a strange idea.

I'm pretty certain that Freightliner run a intermodal service from the terminal in Burton to Southampton. In terms of the proposed terminal if trains were heading from say Sheet Stores Junction then surely there would be no need to reverse? I suspect that the organistion behind the proposed terminal may get a grant from the Government if they provide a rail connection to the terminal. I could be wrong on that though!
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The developers have said that it could create 7,000 jobs.

And the local press, local councillors etc. have been stupid enough to believe them!

Are the DET in on this? They tend to be pretty naive at times!

 

[Harbon 1]

I'm pretty certain that Freightliner run a intermodal service from the terminal in Burton to Southampton.

I think I've seen this on RTT but I've never, despite trying so many times seen it with my own eyes!

In terms of the proposed terminal if trains were heading from say Sheet Stores Junction then surely there would be no need to reverse?

In this direction no, but only if site option B is chosen, as access is from the North Staffs Jcn side. Site A and C would require an additional reversal coming from anywhere other than Stoke.

 

[RichmondCommu]

I think I've seen this on RTT but I've never, despite trying so many times seen it with my own eyes!

It was mentioned on here by another forum member recently as running but I suspect there won't be enough demand for it to run every day. If you take the train from Derby to Burton you can see containers placed along side the railway waiting to be transported.

In this direction no, but only if site option B is chosen, as access is from the North Staffs Jcn side. Site A and C would require an additional reversal coming from anywhere other than Stoke.

I guess it all depends on which port the trains ran to. If Toyota had a change of heart regarding rail freight there is the possibility that trains could run under the Channel to the rest of Europe. At the moment I think Toyota send their cars to Liverpool for export.

Perhaps I'm missing something here but in terms of options A & C surely a cross over on the North Staffs line would solve the problem?

 

[Harbon 1]

It was mentioned on here by another forum member recently as running but I suspect there won't be enough demand for it to run every day. If you take the train from Derby to Burton you can see containers placed along side the railway waiting to be transported.

Yeah I live in Burton so it's a regular sight. I've seen wagons left there on a couple of occasions but I've never personally seen a loco with them, or containers on the wagons.

Perhaps I'm missing something here but in terms of options A & C surely a cross over on the North Staffs line would solve the problem?

That would work with the trains being propelled into the headshunt from the mainline, but that would mean a double reversal to gain access to the container terminal, and then a run round loop would be needed as well. Trains coming from the Birmingham direction would only be able to access the site whichever option is chosen via a run round at North Staffs Junction. Of course the run round in the terminal isn't the end of the world with a lot of space being available, but with so many reversals will it get to the point where its too much bother than its worth to access the terminal?

 

[6Gman]

The developers have said that it could create 7,000 jobs.

And the local press, local councillors etc. have been stupid enough to believe them!

The Basford Intermodal Facility Blah-de-Blah, first proposed in the 1980s was also predicted to create 7,000 jobs. Perhaps it's the stock figure

To date, the Basford site has produced ... er ... zero new jobs.

 

[HowardGWR]

It's worth mentioning here that there is a similar rail linked facility at Castle Donnington near the airport which has never seen a freight train of any description, at least to my knowledge. There was a lot of talk that Marks & Spencer planned to use the terminal in the same way that Tesco use Daventry but nothing has ever come of it. My sister lives in Egginton so I assume that she will have also received a letter. As others have recently pointed out on another thread started by myself Toyota appear to have no interest in transporting cars by rail.

It's Castle Donington BTW.

 

[Mugby]

The Basford Intermodal Facility Blah-de-Blah, first proposed in the 1980s was also predicted to create 7,000 jobs. Perhaps it's the stock figure

To date, the Basford site has produced ... er ... zero new jobs.

Exactly. Developers will say anything to get their plans approved, they know that local councillors will fall for such guff every time!

 

[John Webb]

And of course the longer-standing proposals for the freight terminal next to the MML between Radlett and St Albans - with no direct connection to the M25 for when goods are off-loaded from the many expected trains........

 

[MarkyT]

Toyota traffic and the potential for sidings on this site were discussed in another thread recently: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=100033&page=2

 

[AnonymousUser1]

It's worth mentioning here that there is a similar rail linked facility at Castle Donnington near the airport which has never seen a freight train of any description, at least to my knowledge. There was a lot of talk that Marks & Spencer planned to use the terminal in the same way that Tesco use Daventry but nothing has ever come of it. My sister lives in Egginton so I assume that she will have also received a letter. As others have recently pointed out on another thread started by myself Toyota appear to have no interest in transporting cars by rail.

M+S at Castle Donington is Not fully operational yet and currently significant volumes of what they are currently handling for Internet Ops is not coming direct from suppliers but via existing 3PL holding centres treating the EComm operate as another RDC/ Store , the not so publicised part of that is the slippages in timeframes given to the 3PLs by M+S.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

And of course the longer-standing proposals for the freight terminal next to the MML between Radlett and St Albans - with no direct connection to the M25 for when goods are off-loaded from the many expected trains........

You mean the 100% road served warehouse .....(all gone quiet , though a few naïve individuals seemed to think it was a good thing to see more "Local" freight. Pause for hollow laughter...)

Not unhappy to see it as a new housing development if properly done...