{"id":103264,"date":"2026-02-26T10:43:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/895781270"},"modified":"2026-02-26T10:43:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:43:46","slug":"landmark-deal-paves-way-for-return-of-regular-cross-channel-rail-freight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/26\/landmark-deal-paves-way-for-return-of-regular-cross-channel-rail-freight\/","title":{"rendered":"Landmark deal paves way for return of regular cross-Channel rail freight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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British businesses could soon gain direct rail freight links to the continent, as a landmark deal paves the way for the return of regular cross-Channel rail freight. <\/p>\n

The Government-backed deal, announced today (Wednesday February 25), will see Network Rail and its property development company Platform4 take long-term control over the Barking Eurohub site in east London, currently owned by Legal & General, with plans for around \u00a315 million of investment to transform it into an international logistics hub. <\/p>\n

This investment will help support the return of regular intermodal freight trains, which carry cargo in containers that can be easily transferred across rail, road, and sea, through the Channel Tunnel. <\/p>\n

This could see British businesses directly import and export goods via rail to France, Germany, Italy and Spain, deepening trade links with Europe, and could open the possibility for Scottish whisky, British white goods, and consumer goods to be exported on trains to European customers, or London\u2019s bustling food markets to get fresh fruit and vegetables direct from growers on the continent. <\/p>\n

It would also help to reduce congestion on the roads leading to less pollution, less traffic, and fewer potholes, particularly in the South East at the Dartford Crossing and M20\/M2 corridors. Growing rail freight is a key part of the Government\u2019s ambitions to reform the rail network. Once Great British Railways is established, it will have a statutory duty to promote rail freight\u2019s use, and the Transport Secretary will set growth targets. <\/p>\n

Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, said: <\/p>\n

\u201cThis deal is a huge opportunity to reinvigorate rail freight by paving the way for the return of regular services through the Channel Tunnel. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt will boost British businesses by opening new trade links to Europe by delivering a faster and more sustainable way to transport goods to the continent and back. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all part of our plan to use our railways to support economic growth and jobs.\u201d <\/p>\n

Minister for Industry, Chris McDonald, said: <\/p>\n

\u201cThis significant investment will strengthen UK supply chains and support jobs across the country by deepening trade links with our closest partner and biggest market in the EU. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis project will help deliver more sustainable trade and build more reliable connections for the almost 100,000 UK businesses that export to the EU, while creating new opportunities for others here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

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… of regular cross-Channel rail freight<\/span>. The Government-backed deal, … of regular intermodal freight<\/span> trains, which carry cargo<\/span> in containers that … statutory duty to promote rail freight<\/span>\u00e2\u0080\u0099s use, and the … opportunity to reinvigorate rail freight<\/span> by paving the way …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}