Just 60 km west of Birmingham, the Telford International Railfreight Park (TIRP) is managed by specialist rail freight company John G Russell.
The development of TIRP was initiated through a partnership between Telford & Wrekin Council, the MoD and the Homes & Communities Agency (formerly English Partnerships) in 2001. The project culminated in the reinstatement of approximately 3 km of railway line from Wellington to Donnington and the construction of freight handling and storage facilities at Donnington.
According to Ken Russell, commercial & business development director of John G Russell (Transport), many Japanese multinationals that have established manufacturing and distribution centres in Telford have been receiving imports from Asia and elsewhere by sea via the major UK ports, notably Felixstowe, Southampton and Tilbury. Therefore the first regular trains will likely be to and from these ports loaded with deepsea containers.
"Initially, we will not have sufficient volumes to justify direct trains, but we are confident that we will be able to link TIRP with Crewe - already an established hub for block container trains," said Russell. As volumes build up, as we know they will, we will seek to operate direct services to these three major ports."
Including Telford, the Russell Group operates five rail terminals in the UK and has open access to many others that are operated by third parties.
This offers the potential to link TIRP with other parts of the UK. John G Russell is discussing with potential customers the operation of a regular service linking the London area with Scotland via TIRP, so providing the West Midlands with connections both north and south. The company is also actively pursuing links between Telford and Continental Europe.
