UK rail freight operator, EWS, has introduced a new daily high-cube container service between the Port of Southampton and the new Birmingham Intermodal Freight Terminal (BIFT) which is owned and operated by Roadways Container Logistics.
The new service follows the recent publication of Network Rail's Freight Route Utilisation Strategy which forecasts a 422% increase in the movement of maritime containers by rail by 2015.
The new daily multi-user service has been created in direct response to this demand from major shipping lines.
The service, which commenced on September 11th, will be able to haul an average of thirty containers per train.
The BIFT train is the fifth daily Southampton service operated by EWS, complementing its existing daily services to and from Burton on Trent, Trafford Park (Manchester), Wakefield and Widnes.
EWS is currently expanding its terminal at the Port of Southampton. The new daily service to Birmingham Intermodal Freight Terminal is the first of a number of new destinations that EWS will introduce from Southampton during this winter.
