Doncaster International Railport

Doncaster International Railport, sometimes referred to as Doncaster Europort is a 12 acres (5 ha) intermodal rail terminal in Doncaster, England, located on the East Coast Main Line close to the M18 motorway and its junction with the A1(M) road. It was built in 1995 as part of a 26 acres (11 ha) development site originally known as Direct for Europe Doncaster.

Not to be confused with Doncaster iPort.

History

At the end of the 19th century the site of the Doncaster railport was primarily in agricultural use;[1] to the south the Great Northern Railway (GNR) main line that had been built during the 1850s, and to the west of the site a large engine shed (Doncaster Carr shed) was constructed for the GNR in the 1870s;[1] a small engine shed was built at the north-western corner of the site in the later part of the 19th century[note 1] (extant until the 1970s[1]). During the 20th century the area was increasingly taken into railway use, mainly sidings (Decoy Sidings).[1]

In 1989 after the passing of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987 Doncaster was put forward as a site for a rail terminal for Channel Tunnel freight.[4] The site was promoted by Neil Worthington (Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council) and backed by Mabon, subsidiary of Dutch company Hollandsche Beton Groep, and Kyle Stewart Properties. Initial expectations were for over 200,000 t of cargo per annum, and create 150 jobs directly.[5] In June 1992 Kyle Stuart was awarded the contract to develop the terminal – in addition to the rail terminal up to 100,000 m2 (120,000 sq yd) of factory/warehousing space had been given planning permission.[6]

In 1994 construction began on the £5 million Direct for Europe project; the terminal was one of several built to serve expected international freight trains resulting from the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994.[7][note 2]

The 8.2 acres (3.3 ha) railport was opened in December 1995 by The Princess Royal; it was equipped with two reception sidings and four terminal sidings and capable of handling train lengths of 750 metres (2,460 ft); and was built with car handling and storage facilities.[4][8] the site was built close to extensive marshalling sidings.[1][4] As a Channel Tunnel freight terminal it was built with additional security measures to comply with the Channel Tunnel Security Order of 1994.[4]

The rail site was operated by Applied Distribution Ltd.;[4] in 1996/7 Tibbett and Britten acquired the rail terminal operation business.[4][9]

In the late 1990s the site was handling about 12,500 containers per year, including a plastic polymer flow from ICI Wilton (Teesside) to the DuPont fibre plant in Doncaster, and intermodal traffic via seaports, but with little Channel tunnel trade. Trains were operated by Freightliner and EWS.[4] GB Railfreight began running a service from the Port of Felixstowe in 2006.[10]

In 2008 Freightliner took over running of the rail terminal from Tibbett & Britain successor DHL Supply Chain;[11] by 2008 the terminal had increased its throughput to 37,000 containers per year.[12]

Notes
  1. The London and North Western Railway built an engine shed at Doncaster (east of the GNR's Doncaster Carr shed) after obtaining running powers on the GNR.[2][3] (See also Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway)
  2. Others were the Hams Hall Channel Tunnel Freight Terminal, Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal, and Wakefield Europort

References
  1. Ordnance survey maps, 1854–1990, 1:2500, 1:10560 and 1:10000 scale
  2. "The Great Northern and London & North Western Joint Railway 1879–1964", www.meltonmowbray.steamrailways.com, archived from the original on 17 April 2014, retrieved 25 April 2014, The LNWR built a locomotive shed to the east of the GNR shed at Doncaster
  3. "Joint Lines part-owned by the Great Northern Railway", The London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) Encyclopedia, GN&LNWJ, retrieved 25 April 2014
  4. Worthington, Neil (1998), Rahtz, Nick; Cassell, Cathy (eds.), "CASE STUDY OF INTERMODAL FACILITIES IN THE U.K.", hermes.civil.auth.gr, archived from the original on 28 September 2006, retrieved 4 February 2012
  5. "RAILPORT DONCASTER: Spil van spoorvervoer in Groot- Brittannie", www.nieuwsbladtransport.nl (in Dutch), Nieuwsblad Transport, 1 August 1992, retrieved 4 February 2012
  6. 25Jun92 UK: KYLE STEWART WINS CONTRACT TO DEVELOP A £50M RAIL FREIGHT INTERCHANGE IN DONCASTER, SOUTH YORKSHIRE., Construction News, 25 June 1992, retrieved 4 February 2012
  7. 15Dec94 UK: DONCASTER RAILPORT KICKS OFF, Construction News, 15 December 1994, retrieved 4 February 2012
  8. "Tibbett & Britten Group (logistics services) – Rail operations", www.hayesanderson.com, Tibbett & Britten Group, DONCASTER INTERNATIONAL RAILPORT, 2004, archived from the original on 25 January 2013, retrieved 4 February 2012
  9. Memorandum by Tibbett & Britten Group plc (CHT 06) THE DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED BY THE GROUP RESULTING FROM THE DISRUPTION OF CHANNEL TUNNEL RAIL FREIGHT SERVICES, Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions, May 2002, Section 2, retrieved 4 February 2012
  10. "New rail freight link for port", East Anglian Daily Times, 19 January 2006, retrieved 4 February 2012
  11. "Railport set to double capacity", Doncaster Free Press, Johnston Publishing Ltd., 1 May 2008, retrieved 4 February 2012
  12. "News in Brief : Freightliner expands in the North" (PDF). Rail Professional. May 2008. p. 35. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
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