Stobart granted Eft
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by David Craik • Carlisle haulier Eddie Stobart has won a £20m railfreight grant from the Department of Transport to develop a rail link between Glasgow and the Midlands.
The grant will pay for half the investment by Stobart into building distribution centres of between 14,000m2 and 18,600m2 at Glasgow and either Doyentry or Hams Hall, Birmingham, and acquiring more than 70 rail wagons.
Group commercial manager Richard Butcher says the grant has been accepted in principle by the DOT.
Stobart warns that road congestion between the Midlands and Glasgow is not going to improve. The company is planning the rail link to enable it to guarantee delivery times to its customers. Stobart plans to develop more rail terminals in Yorkshire, Kent, the South West and South Wales.
E A £1.8m railfreight grant has been awarded by the DOT to the Port of Felixstowe which will help the port to expand its rail freight capacity by more than 50% over the next five years.
The grant will be used towards the expansion of the Northern Rail Terminal at the port; in the long-term this will reduce the number of containers leaving the port by road.
A port spokesman says the current four rail lines will be extended and two new lines will be laid.
The expansion in railfreight will continue during Easter 1999 with the completion of a £10m programme to develop the Ipswich to Felixstowe rail line. Modern signalling will be constructed; line speeds will be increased; and a long loop will be built, enabling two Freightliner trains to pass each other on the line.