News

Rachel Reeves MP used her first speech as incoming Chancellor of the Exchequer to cite one of our client projects.

The Chancellor stated that “we will create a new taskforce to accelerate stalled housing sites in our country, beginning with Liverpool Central Docks, Worcester Parkway, Northstowe and Langley Sutton Coldfield.”

We have been working with client Summix on the the project, situated in close proximity to the new Worcestershire Parkway station, 2 miles from Junction 7 of the M5, 5.5 miles south east of Worcester city centre and 4.5 miles from Pershore. Acting as lead promoter, Summix is promoting Worcestershire Parkway as an allocation for residential-led mixed use development and will represent part of a new settlement providing a substantial housing supply over the course of the plan period.

The emerging local plan issued by the Local Planning Authority in November 2019 has included this site and surrounding landholdings as part of the proposed allocation for the new settlement in and around Worcestershire Parkway station. Summix continues to progress detailed technical work in conjunction with local stakeholders to promote Worcestershire Parkway as an allocation via the Local Plan review.

Our role is focussed on the interface with Network Rail, whose main line routes radiate out from Worcestershire Parkway station (with whom one of our team was previously involved as Project Delivery Director), together with a network of at-grade and grade-separate crossings of the lines that will fall within the scope of the various housing developments planned in the area.

Friday 5th July 2024 saw major rail freight operator Freightliner deliver the first trial load of containerised feedstock from Manchester to Enfinium’s Multifuel power station. Having had the foresight to install a dedicated rail terminal when the power station was being built during 2013-2015, this first train represents an important stage of Enfinium’s overall plan for using rail.

Having worked with Enfinium during 2022 to look at rail options for inbound feedstock and outbound carbon capture and storage, and latterly with developers Mountpark to help secure planning consent for redevelopment of the adjacent former coal yard (retaining the rail facilities), we received the call from Freightliner (another long-standing client) at the end of April regarding the prospect of a trial being undertaken in July, around 2 months ahead.

From our involvement in the site in recent years, we realised the work that would be needed in advance to ensure the train could be operated through the SSE rail sidings at Ferrybridge, before setting back into the Enfinium sidings, which had yet to receive any rail services since construction several years previously.

Working with SSE and their managing agents JLL, we organised a site visit in May to assess the condition of track and signalling, proposed a plan and were instructed in June to work alongside the existing rail maintenance contractor MLP Rail, drafting in specialist signalling resource from colleagues at 9th Wave Consulting and contractors OSL as required. Discussions with Freightliner, Network Rail and Enfinium ensured all parties were kept informed as required.

A 2-week programme of works on site brought all the relevant on-site track and signalling assets up to full working order, Freightliner bringing a locomotive into site in advance of the trial service as part of the testing regime. With everything in place, the trial train arrived on the Friday evening and departed on the Monday morning as planned, with feedstock containers unloaded at the railhead to test the delivery of material to the power station.

Dr. Jane Atkinson CBE, Chief Operating Officer at enfinium, said: “I am delighted that this trial has connected Ferrybridge to the UK’s rail network for the first time. I am grateful for the support of SUEZ and Freightliner in enabling us to achieve this step. It has opened up a range of opportunities for the business to help local authorities around the UK divert their unrecyclable waste away from climate damaging landfill.”

Ed Wilson, Commercial Director at Freightliner, said: “Freightliner’s ability to build strong, long-standing relationships with our customers allows us to deliver reliable and safe services. This trial showcases the importance of the development of rail across the UK and beyond in order to support and help achieve key sustainability targets, remove traffic from our busy road network and to support moving more volume by rail.”

Intermodality is delighted to have been involved in helping achieve a successful outcome in a relatively short timescale, and look forward to further developments by Enfinium, Freightliner and Mountpark at Ferrybridge in the months ahead.

December 2022 saw the publication of Great British Railways Transition Team’s “Market Development Plan: GBR actions and activities to grow rail freight.” The report highlights several areas where Intermodality has been commissioned to assist the nascent “guiding mind” for the rail industry with the development of the rail freight sector.

The report’s title page shows the reinstated railhead at Newhaven Port, which we helped design and develop with Network Rail, Bretts and Newhaven Port & Property. Material produced by Intermodality for GBR, as noted in the report, has included an assessment of the shortfall between regions of Intermodal Rail Freight Interchanges (IRFI). These are standalone railheads designed to provide rail access in areas not otherwise served by the larger Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges (SRFI). Intermodality has spent much of the last 21 years providing support to development of SRFI at Radlett, iPort Doncaster, East Midlands Gateway, West Midlands Interchange, Oxfordshire SRFI and most recently helping secure the allocation of the Parkside East SRFI within the St Helens Local Plan. We have also helped with the design and delivery of IRFI now operating at Severnside, Knowsley and Wilton (SUEZ) and at Tinsley (MLP for Newell & Wright Group).

We have also produced a report for a combined Network Rail / GBR team on the role that the Major Stations portfolio could once again provide, within the re-emerging market for express freight and urban logistics, another area of specialism and development by Intermodality over the past two decades, from working with EWS on its original award-winning trainload services, to organising proof-of-concept services into London’s Euston station for Eddie Stobart and Sainsburys, and in turn for TNT/Fedex (the latter funded by us). We have since worked with HS1 and Eurotunnel to assess the opportunities for cross-Channel services, with GB Railfreight, rolling stock leasing companies and a major retailer prospect on domestic services, as well as with property developers and Network Rail looking to create purpose-built distribution centres and urban cross-dock facilities. Last but by no means least, we have provided Board-level support to another award-winning start-up, ICRF’s unique 125mph parcels-on-passenger train service, which launched back in 2011 and now spans multiple modes of transport and service providers, exploiting unused space on scheduled services to move time-sensitive shipments across the network – Red Star reimagined for the 21st Century.

Further support has been provided to GBR on development of site layouts for IRFI across the country in areas where provision is lacking, the GBR report citing one of Intermodality’s plans produced for an IRFI at Exeter to serve the South West region of the UK.

As Intermodality enters our 21st anniversary year, we are proud to continue our track record of supporting growth of sustainable transport (now covering both freight and passenger sectors) through public policy and commercial investment. We will be showcasing 21 years of achievements throughout the course of 2023, so keep in touch for further updates.

Network Rail today reported the first train into the reactivated railhead at Newhaven, the culmination of an 9-year journey with Newhaven Port & Properties (feasibility study in 2011), Network Rail (initial design input) and finally with Brett Aggregates (final design and contractor procurement).

Suffice to say we’re delighted to have helped yet another railhead return to life, with the road network from the Sussex Coast up to West London relieved of up to 80 lorry loads in each direction, and the emissions generated by moving the material reduced by over three-quarters compared to movement by road.

Intermodality would like to congratulate the team from the Port, Network Rail, Bretts and contractors KGJ Price for making this happen, the new railhead being only a stone’s throw (sorry) from our registered office.

Photos courtesy Network Rail

Today saw the Development Consent Order (DCO) granted by Government for a new Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) at Four Ashes in Staffordshire. The West Midlands Interchange (WMI) will add to the small number of existing SRFI already in operation, further expanding the network of rail-served sites available to distribution companies and their customers.

West Midlands Interchange is being promoted by Four Ashes Limited – a consortium led by Kilbride Holdings, working in partnership with international property group Grosvenor Group and majority landowner Piers Monckton. The Kilbride Holdings team has developed rail-based projects for Jaguar Land Rover in Halewood and Castle Bromwich, and Honda as well as a number of infrastructure-led developments in the UK.

Intermodality’s involvement with the project dates back to 2006, building on our long working relationship with Kilbride as one of our first clients. Over the last 14 years we have helped to design the rail-related elements of the WMI project, provided input to the various rounds of community and industry consultations, as well as the draft DCO submission itself, and the subsequent Panel Hearings by the Planning Inspectorate.

Given the paucity of rail-served warehousing in Great Britain compared to mainland Europe, the announcement is another welcome step towards creating a network of sites across the country, linking SRFI with major ports, mainland Europe and other RFI. Every single SRFI built and opened to date has since delivered on its core objective – creating new rail freight services by improving rail access to occupiers and the surrounding hinterland.

With the current lockdown set to dramatically change future shopping and supply chains, developments such as WMI will be at the forefront of helping society and business adapt to the “new normal”. Rail freight is anticipated to play a much greater role going forward, as much in delivering goods from the quayside to national distribution centres, as in onward secondary distribution out to the regions, across an expanding range of intermodal, conventional and express rail freight services.

To date we have helped SRFI at Radlett, iPort and now WMI secure planning consent as the first stage towards implementation, helped with expansion of other SRFI at Mersey Multimodal Gateway and DIRFT phase II (Sainsbury’s), and are now working on a pipeline of further future SRFI prospects across the country. Since 2002 we have also helped create or reactivate RFI at Severnside, Knowsley and Wilton (SUEZ), Castle Donington (M&S), Gascoigne Wood (Harworth), Lowestoft (Network Rail), Leicester (DC Rail), Luton (Cemex), Newhaven (Brett / Newhaven Port & Properties), Sheffield (Helios) and Thorney Mill (Link Park Heathrow).