Rail Freight Flows and News UK

[geordieblue]

I’ve read that the Baglan logs are due to return at some point - unsure if this is true or not.

 

[j37401]

The other snippet regarding steel at Seaforth was using the railhead for aluminium ingots. The ones produced at Novelis and previously loaded at Ditton foundry lane for Daventry and Nuess in Germany. After the Ditton railhead closed earlier this year with the traffic now roaded/shipped there was talk of this starting back up again but loaded at Seaforth dock. I believe the French side couldn't resource the job so it never happened but i believe there is still an appetite to trial this. Maybe one or two trains per week.

 

[HST125Scorton]

The other snippet regarding steel at Seaforth was using the railhead for aluminium ingots. The ones produced at Novelis and previously loaded at Ditton foundry lane for Daventry and Nuess in Germany. After the Ditton railhead closed earlier this year with the traffic now roaded/shipped there was talk of this starting back up again but loaded at Seaforth dock. I believe the French side couldn't resource the job so it never happened but i believe there is still an appetite to trial this. Maybe one or two trains per week.

Thank you for replying about the Seaforth steel. I do hope it comes back in 2026 and be a success.

 

[BRX]

The other snippet regarding steel at Seaforth was using the railhead for aluminium ingots. The ones produced at Novelis and previously loaded at Ditton foundry lane for Daventry and Nuess in Germany. After the Ditton railhead closed earlier this year with the traffic now roaded/shipped there was talk of this starting back up again but loaded at Seaforth dock. I believe the French side couldn't resource the job so it never happened but i believe there is still an appetite to trial this. Maybe one or two trains per week.

I had understood that the issue with that train was that it became cheaper to do by road - rather than the railhead closing.

Is it the case that for some reason loading it at Seaforth would we more cost effective?

 

[j37401]

I had understood that the issue with that train was that it became cheaper to do by road - rather than the railhead closing.

Is it the case that for some reason loading it at Seaforth would we more cost effective?

Yes that is correct. I probably should have worded it slightly differently. The current volumes were not what they used to be so the train from Ditton was only running about 3 times per week instead of the original 6. Therefore the costing for the train went up significantly (rightly or wrongly) based on 3 trains per week and high costs etc. The plug was pulled and Novelis now truck these from Warrington to Hull or Goole docks? Novelis recently boasting about how 'Green' they are in the local rag but no mention of 100's of trucks heading over the M62. I am also unsure how some of the return traffic comes back from Germany. As rolled coil used to come back through the tunnel..
I believe the Seaforth trial came about because i heard that some of the ingots are barged up the Rhine and water levels were very low during the hot spell earlier this year. How true this is i'm not sure but Seaforth is an alternative option for loading the ingots especially with loading equipment and staff already employed there.

 

[BRX]

Yes that is correct. I probably should have worded it slightly differently. The current volumes were not what they used to be so the train from Ditton was only running about 3 times per week instead of the original 6. Therefore the costing for the train went up significantly (rightly or wrongly) based on 3 trains per week and high costs etc. The plug was pulled and Novelis now truck these from Warrington to Hull or Goole docks? Novelis recently boasting about how 'Green' they are in the local rag but no mention of 100's of trucks heading over the M62. I am also unsure how some of the return traffic comes back from Germany. As rolled coil used to come back through the tunnel..
I believe the Seaforth trial came about because i heard that some of the ingots are barged up the Rhine and water levels were very low during the hot spell earlier this year. How true this is i'm not sure but Seaforth is an alternative option for loading the ingots especially with loading equipment and staff already employed there.

Thanks, that's interesting.

Is the idea that if you can't barge it up the Rhine (from Neuss?) then it makes more sense to rail it the whole distance?

It would be great to see it start again. I'm familiar with the train because it used to pass me here in south london regularly (although usually in the dead of night). I was never totally clear about what was on it or whether there were two different cargoes on it - it was half cargowaggons and half curtain sided containers but maybe both had the same thing inside. As I understood it aluminum ingots from uk to germany and then the back load was aluminium coil like you say...for Jaguar Landrover (for whom some of the containers were branded). I think the stuff for jaguar landrover got offloaded at Daventry and then the train continued on to Ditton? But I always wondered if the whole train went on to ditton or just half of it.

 

[Inafinus]

This looks an interesting working: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H54588/2025-10-07/detailed
(1012 Ernsettle Mod Gbrf to Glen Douglas Mod Gbrf tomorrow)

Though no recent trains have run, this path has popped up again under an 'altered WTT schedule code': https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H54588/2025-12-10/detailed

I am not, at all, familar with the inner workings of such things but, given the service is unlikely to run, why might it be punted onto an altered timetable. ie, why go to the effort? Is it because it's an MOD working that the path must be kept free in the – albeit unlikely – chance it may run?

Side note, and a possible idea for a breakout thread: at close to 23-hours from start to finish, this must be one of the longest paths, by duration, on the timetable?

(Apologies if this is not the right place to ask such things, but I didn't want to create a new thread given this has been discussed in here already!)

 

[Adrian Barr]

Freightliner indicate that there are up to "20 services a day" using their Old Trafford Manchester terminal.

They are probably adding the number of arrivals to the number of departures to get that figure.

A random midweek day (Wed 03 Dec) shows 9 arrivals and 8 departures at Trafford Park Freightliner terminal:

Arrivals: (3 from London Gateway, 1 from Felixstowe, 2 from Soton, 2 from Basford Hall, 1 from "Tilbury 2")

4M58 15:40 ex London Gateway (arr 01:20)
4M60 20:30 ex London Gateway (arr 02:59)
4M53 20:28 ex Felixstowe (arr 04:29)
4H00 07:07 ex Basford Hall (arr 08:40)
4M42 02:23 ex London Gateway (arr 10:40)
4M95 03:36 ex Southampton Maritime (arr 12:40)
4M61 12:56 ex Southampton Maritime (arr 19:40)
4M03 14:17 ex Tilbury 2 (arr 21:10)
4H54 21:09 ex Basford Hall (arr 22:30)

Departures: (3 to London Gateway, 1 to Felixstowe, 2 to Soton, 1 to Basford Hall, 1 to "Tilbury 2")

4O22 00:45 Southampton Maritime
4L03 02:07 Tilbury 2
4L58 05:06 London Gateway
4L60 07:20 London Gateway
4L67 10:20 Felixstowe
4L42 15:20 London Gateway
4O29 15:59 Southampton Maritime
4K80 20:20 Basford Hall (portion)

The Tilbury service is interesting as it serves Tilbury 2, rather than the other Tilbury container terminal, which was once known as Northfleet Hope but now London Container Terminal. This means 4M03 conveys European container traffic off the Ro-Ro ferries rather than deep sea traffic. Note the P&O containers visible here on 4M03: https://www.flickr.com/photos/196246215@N07/54527703164/ (Photo: Marc Davies)

The portion trains between Basford Hall and Trafford Park are usually 4H54 21:09 Basford Hall to Trafford Park and 4K80 20:20 Trafford Park to Basford Hall. I think the traffic on 4H54 tends to be a portion off 4S59 14:57 Southampton - Coatbridge; for example a consist for 4S59 on 10th October shows 24 wagons for Coatbridge and 12 for Trafford.

As an example of the traffic on 4K80, it ran last night (12 Dec) and 4 loaded wagons off 4K80 went forward on 4L95 01:37 Basford Hall to Felixstowe (along with 16 wagons from Coatbridge which had arrived on 4M86 19:36 Coatbridge - Basford Hall, plus a couple of empty KTAs which ran from Stoke wagon shops yesterday afternoon on 4K09). The portions to and from Trafford would also be used to move wagons to and from maintenance as required.

4H00 07:07 Basford Hall - Trafford Park also seems to be a regular runner - I've noted this in the past running with a portion off 4S88 14:33 Felixstowe - Coatbridge.

=============================

Trafford Park Euroterminal (a separate terminal operated by Maritime) usually has 6 arrivals and departures per day (as mentioned in post #2233), as follows:

Trafford Park Euroterminal Departures 03/12/25:

4O46 03:10 Southampton Western Docks (GBRF)
4O21 08:20 Southampton Western Docks (DB Cargo)
4L32 09:20 Felixstowe North (DB Cargo)
4L56 13:20 London Gateway (DB Cargo)
4B43 17:20 Daventry (DRS - Tesco service)
4L22 22:20 Felixstowe South (GBRF)

Trafford Park Euroterminal Arrivals 03/12/25:

4M78 21:47 from Southampton Western Docks (DB Cargo, arr 04:50)
4M90 or 4M73 21:41 from Felixstowe (DB Cargo, arr 05:37)
4M83 02:35 from London Gateway (DB Cargo, arr 09:39)
4H43 08:44 from Daventry (DRS - Tesco service, arr 13:39)
4M22 10:26 from Felixstowe South (GBRF, arr 19:21)
4M46 14:19 from Southampton Western Docks (GBRF, arr 22:09)

A drone view of Trafford Park Freightliner can be seen in this video:

Trafford Park Freight Terminal from ABOVE! | Rail 125

When the drone view swings round at 2:40 you can see the Euroterminal site over to the left, adjacent to the main line.

There was an interesting operation to another nearby container terminal at Barton Dock (Containerbase) located further into the Trafford Park estate, which used class 08 haulage from there to Trafford Park sidings, but I don't think that's been operational for a few years now. Some pics of those workings:

https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&text=barton+dock+containerbase

Adding the traffic at the Freightliner terminal and the Euroterminal together, there were a total of 29 services to or from Trafford Park through Manchester Piccadilly on 3rd December (15 services into Trafford Park and 14 departures from Trafford Park). That matches the 29 liner workings noted in post #2231.

 

[BRX]

This means 4M03 conveys European container traffic off the Ro-Ro ferries rather than deep sea traffic.

Do you know if this happens anywhere else? My impression was that container traffic leaving uk ports by rail was generally only from deep sea services.

 

[littledude]

Do you know if this happens anywhere else? My impression was that container traffic leaving uk ports by rail was generally only from deep sea services.

Traffic through Tees Dock is short sea, not deep sea

 

[AndrewE]

Traffic through Tees Dock is short sea, not deep sea

Do you mean transshipped at Rotterdam or somewhere like that?

 

[littledude]

Do you mean transshipped at Rotterdam or somewhere like that?

No, it’s European domestic traffic in the form of P&O Ferrymasters, DFDS etc. They are common sights on trains to Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Gent etc, so will use short sea shipping across to the UK before continuing their journey.

 

[Oxfordblues]

Do you mean transshipped at Rotterdam or somewhere like that?

Short-sea containers are usually 45-foot and you can't squeeze them into deep-sea ships designed for 20- and 40-ft boxes.

 

[Rail Ranger]

The track between Trafford Park sidings and Barton Dock (Containerbase) was lifted quite a few years ago. Some of it was re-used at locations elsewhere in the North West.

 

[AndrewE]

No, it’s European domestic traffic in the form of P&O Ferrymasters, DFDS etc. They are common sights on trains to Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Gent etc, so will use short sea shipping across to the UK before continuing their journey.

Short-sea containers are usually 45-foot and you can't squeeze them into deep-sea ships designed for 20- and 40-ft boxes.

that's worth knowing, thanks.

 

[BRX]

Some years ago the deep sea companies pulled out of Thamesport (south side of the Thames estuary) and started calling at Gateway instead. This meant that container trains from Thamesport through kent and south london abruptly stopped (having been a regular sight for quite a long time). As far as I know there are still short sea services into Thamesport but none of it goes out by rail. I'd assumed that the economics of short sea shipping basically ruled out anything going onwards by rail (presumably lower volumes and more likely to be going to multiple smaller destinations?) so it's interesting to know that it does actually happen in some places.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Dec 2025 ==

I understand that Cappagh/DCR have received permission to use the former Plumstead Goods Yard, recently used as a temporary construction compound for Crossrail, as an aggregate yard along with a Cappagh owned concrete batching plant operating as Express Concrete, it is expected to require 150000 tonnes of aggregate annually, a network connection has been agreed ahead of track reinstatement

Looks like there was a test run into plumstead this morning, maybe this means we'll see something starting up soon.

 

[ExRes]

Looks like there was a test run into plumstead this morning, maybe this means we'll see something starting up soon.

I can do you an update on that @BRX from a very well placed contributor on WNXX today

"Plumstead Yard has not been relaid yet but we are still actively working towards that. Service is a test run to confirm (amongst other things) SRTs for moves in to/out of the yard when built but using the Carriage Sidings instead (some of the Carriage Sidings use the same exit signal - NK516 - as the yard)"


Also hot off the press is a Linkedin post from David Fletcher which includes

"... culmination of many months of work with Network Rail and Southeastern Railway to prove a path into the freight site being developed in the old coal yard ..."

"...some brilliant and very genuine cross railway collaboration has this been possible. It has taken many iterations to be able to propel a train from the up line across the busy down main into the yard. The good news is we believe the path in the May 26 timetable should work"

 

[BRX]

Thanks @ExRes

 

[Bob figgis]

Freightliner worked into Maltby Colliery from Earles 4E02 and then 6M06 return yesterday. 70011 with 22 box wagons.

 

[lyndhurst25]

Freightliner worked into Maltby Colliery from Earles 4E02 and then 6M06 return yesterday. 70011 with 22 box wagons.

Yes.

Realtime Trains | 6M06 1208 Maltby Colliery (Flhh) to Hope (Earles Sidings) Fhh | 15/12/2025

Real-time train running information for 6M06 1208 departure from Maltby Colliery (Flhh) to Hope (Earles Sidings) Fhh on 15/12/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

What was the cargo here? The pit is long closed and the site was mainly being used by a secondhand industrial plant dealer.

Reclaimed coal from the spoil tips? Limestone from the nearby quarries?

 

[AndrewE]

Yes.

What was the cargo here? The pit is long closed and the site was mainly being used by a secondhand industrial plant dealer.

Reclaimed coal from the spoil tips? Limestone from the nearby quarries?

or even colliery spoil (mudstone/clay from between the coal seams) to provide clay minerals for the cement-making? (like the slate waste going in there too.) Could even be better because it includes limestones from the marine bands between coal seams...

 

[littledude]

or even colliery spoil (mudstone/clay from between the coal seams) to provide clay minerals for the cement-making? (like the slate waste going in there too.) Could even be better because it includes limestones from the marine bands between coal seams...

The commodity is power station ash from Ratcliffe

 

[lyndhurst25]

The commodity is power station ash from Ratcliffe

That’s interesting. How (and more importantly why) does the ash get from Ratcliffe to Maltby for loading? The two places are nowhere near one another.

 

[geordieblue]

That’s interesting. How (and more importantly why) does the ash get from Ratcliffe to Maltby for loading? The two places are nowhere near one another.

Straight up the M1?

 

[Freightmaster]

That’s interesting. How (and more importantly why) does the ash get from Ratcliffe to Maltby for loading? The two places are nowhere near one another.

There are quite severe restrictions on the number road movements to/from Hope cement works,
so as much goes in/out by rail as possible.



MARK

 

[D6130]

There are quite severe restrictions on the number road movements to/from Hope cement works,
so as much goes in/out by rail as possible.



MARK

So why doesn't it come all the way from Ratcliffe to Hope by rail?

 

[Adrian Barr]

I'd assumed that the economics of short sea shipping basically ruled out anything going onwards by rail (presumably lower volumes and more likely to be going to multiple smaller destinations?) so it's interesting to know that it does actually happen in some places.

I think you're right that serving short sea shipping by rail is more challenging due to the lower volumes; the Freightliner 4M03 service from Tilbury 2 to Trafford is not always well loaded, and DB struggled to fill the train when they ran it previously as a trial for a few weeks.

Below are some notes on the mysteries of containers, ports, rail services and short sea shipping. The info on shipping is based on what I've found online, but its not my area of expertise!

Containers and Short Sea vs Deep Sea Shipping

======
TILBURY
======

P&O have 12 sailings a week from Tilbury 2 to Rotterdam Europoort (Ropax) and 24 sailings to Zeebrugge (RoRo)

https://www.pofreight.com/route/tilbury-europoort-freight
https://www.pofreight.com/route/tilbury-zeebrugge-freight

P&O offer door-to-door container services, but a lot of containers will be moving port-to-port for road hauliers. I don't think P&O have the volume of traffic on offer to book block trains out of Tilbury in the same way that major shipping lines do for deep sea traffic.

This short video shows operations at Tilbury 2, with terminal tractors towing 45-foot containers on and off the ferries. These unaccompanied containers (technically swap bodies) are stacked 2-high on special "rolltrailers" a.k.a. "mafi" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roll_trailer

Tilbury2 Ro-Ro opening | Graham Group

Over on the other side of Tilbury port at the London Container Terminal (once known as Northfleet Hope), the 4E39 / 4L08 service to and from Wakefield operated by GBRF is an interesting case.

Like Thamesport, I think Tilbury lost most of its deep sea traffic after London Gateway opened in 2013, leading to the closure of Tilbury Rail Container Terminal operated by Freightliner. Part of the former Tilbury RCT is now used as the "bulk siding" to load recycled glass "cullet" (resembling sand) for URM heading to Ince & Elton, plus a Freightliner-hauled aggregate service for FM Conway at Theale. There's also a separate Tarmac "CMAT" aggregate terminal over at Tilbury 2 which currently receives stone from Mountsorrel, but has also been used to load imported stone for East Anglian destinations. The exchange sidings at the former Tilbury RCT are also used to access London Container Terminal, further down the branch on the dockside. There is also the Maritime Railport here, where tinplate coils from Trostre are transferred from train to ship for onward movement to European destinations.

66621 in Tilbury bulk siding (not the LCT as per caption) loading aggregate for FM Conway in 2021:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/world_railways/51270543305/ (Photo: David Smith)

66792 in Maritime Tilbury Railport / London Container Terminal (containers and tinplate are offloaded in the same place) with a tinplate train from Trostre in 2021:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/139865875@N07/51834559902/ (Photo: 37408)

This 2-page PDF has a handy map of the track layout in Tilbury Docks (zoom in to see it better):
https://www.londoncontainerterminal...23/12/ForthPorts_Rail-Insert-2023-Eden-v1.pdf
And this webpage has more info on London Container Terminal itself:
https://www.londoncontainerterminal.com/terminal-details/

Tilbury 2 is on a separate branch, and schedules for trains to or from Tilbury 2 are easily distinguished as they pass through Tilbury Town.

Since the opening of London Gateway and the decline in deep sea container traffic at Tilbury, London Container Terminal has been left with connections to Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, and only a very limited niche service to the far east. Ports served from London Container Terminal are shown on a map here, with details of the shipping lines and services at the bottom:
https://www.londoncontainerterminal.com/connectivity-live-info/#1700783522075-67d40471-c836

Samskip have a 3 x weekly service from Rotterdam, plus weekly sailings from Morocco and Spain (note also the timetabled European trains from Rotterdam and Amsterdam).
https://www.samskip.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/UK-Services-def-v4-2024.pdf

Whenever I see the 4E39 service from Tilbury to Wakefield it conveys 45ft containers (European short sea traffic) with branding for Samskip / Van Dieren / Geest / Unit 45. I associate the Geest brand with bananas (and I think the Geest name is still used for some shipping services to the Caribbean) but Geest North Sea Line is now owned by Samskip.
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/samskip-buys-geest-north-sea-line

The container ship "Geest Trader" is seen in 2011 with 45ft containers branded Samskip and Geest. The caption says it served Hull and Tilbury from Amsterdam and Zeebrugge at the time:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fjroll/6082416621/ (Photo: Frederick Roll)

Geest and Van Dieren containers are seen here on 4E39 in 2024:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sludgeulper/53891201323/ (Photo: Sludge G)
The LEG1 code is for a 45ft container up to 2.5m wide and 9ft 6 tall - i.e. a European Pallet Wide high cube container. These container size codes are explained here:
https://www.bic-code.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SizeAndType-Table1-3.pdf

Van Dieren also turns out to be a subsidiary of Samskip:

Samskip Van Dieren Multimodal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Samskip Multimodal BV, has developed a highly successful concept for door-to-door solutions based on intermodal loading equipment and its own complete trains.
https://www.hectorrail.com/samskip-van-dieren-multimodal-extends-operations-with-hector-rail/

With Unit45 being a container provider rather than a shipping line, the mix of containers on 4E39 suggests it is operated as a dedicated service for Samskip. If they run complete trains in Europe, it's not difficult to imagine them running a dedicated train in the UK, if there is enough volume heading to the Wakefield terminal's catchment area, or if a particular customer in the area is generating a lot of traffic.

Several years ago the Tilbury - Wakefield train was run by DB, and it usually conveyed a fairly uniform cargo of refrigerated reefer units, as seen here at Doncaster in 2009 (note the old footbridge still in place at that time):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanpadley/3608297656/ (Photo: Alan Padley)
At the time, London Container Terminal was known as "Tilbury Container Services" and I understood this service existed mainly to convey imported fruit for Asda.

The other container traffic at London Container Terminal has been the Barry Docks service associated with the Dow Chemicals silicone plant there. 4L50 Barry Docks - Tilbury and 4V47 Tilbury - Barry Docks appear to have stopped running during 2025, with the Barry plant ceasing production of "basic siloxanes." I assume this means a lower volume of raw materials is required, which no longer justifies a rail service.

See the caption to this picture by Chris Davies of 66418 arriving with 4V47:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99220921@N03/54874928550/ (Photo: Chris Davies)

4V47 02:41 Tilbury to Barry Docks is seen in June this year:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/117309723@N02/54602669217/ (Photo: David Hopkins)

4L50 14:42 Barry Docks - Tilbury is seen in August this year:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/welsheyrailwayshots/54750680508/ (Photo: Kevin Downton)

As I understand it, the 20ft containers heading into Barry Docks conveyed "silicon metal" which is the key raw material for the production of silicone. The picture of 4V47 linked above shows "Elkem" and "Euro Nordic" branding on the containers. Elkem are a major supplier of silicon metal, with plants in Norway and Iceland taking advantage of cheaper energy for this very energy-intensive production process, which requires a large furnace. North Sea container line operate (or formerly operated) a shipping service from Kristiansund (Norway) to Tilbury, and in the link below you can see Elkem 20ft containers on a ship in the picture.

Kristiansund Base is your gateway to the world. Thanks to our direct link to Europe’s biggest port at Rotterdam, you are guaranteed short lead times. North Sea Container Line (NCL) has a large and well-connected network with the majors ports of Europe, including the Port of Tilbury (London).
https://kristiansundbase.no/containerhavn/?lang=en

Back at Tilbury 2, in addition to 4M03 / 4L03 to Trafford Park, the other pair of container services (4M07 / 4M77 to Daventry and 4L27 / 4L48 return) are operated for Tesco, so in this case a single customer at a single location provides the volume for dedicated trains. The traffic on these services presumably feeds products from Europe into the Tesco supply chain via Rotterdam / Zeebrugge > Tilbury 2 > Daventry, with onward rail connections to Scotland.

==============
Teesport (Tees Dock)
==============

As mentioned by littledude in post #2262, containers using rail that are shipped through Teesport are mainly European short sea traffic. The rail terminal in Teesport also functions as a distribution point for deep sea containers for the Teesside area which arrive on Freightliner services, so it serves a dual purpose as both a port for short sea traffic and an inland terminal for deep sea traffic.

From the PD Ports website:

With over 20 vessel calls a week, Teesport serves markets including Scandinavia, the Baltics, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Poland, Iceland, Iberia and East and West Africa
https://www.pdports.co.uk/solutions/containers/

This new snippet from Modern Railways in 2018 gives an idea of the container traffic moving by rail between Teesport and Scotland:

PD PORTS has launched a second service from Teesport to Scotland, operated by DB Cargo. The service will run five days a week to the PD Stirling Terminal at Mossend and is timed to connect with the P&O Ferries service from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. Containers loaded to the trains will carry products including food, drinks and furniture. DB Cargo is also the operator for the first service, launched in August 2015 from Teesport to Mossend and Grangemouth. The new service means there are now 10 departures a week from Teesport to Scotland.
https://www.modernrailways.com/article/containers-teesport

As already mentioned in this thread, the Teesport - Mossend and Teesport - Grangemouth services are now combined into a single train running as 4S95 Tees Dock - Grangemouth and 4E99 Grangemouth - Tees Dock, with most of the wagons destined for Mossend Euroterminal and a few continuing through to Grangemouth. So the "Euroterminal" name still has some relevance at Mossend!

The European flavour of these trains can be seen in this 2017 photo. The first container (like many of the others) is clearly marked as 45ft, and many of the containers are from European Container Services (ECS).
These European-spec containers are wider than deep sea containers to convey standard European pallets more efficiently (the width is typically 2500mm for a European spec container vs 2438mm for a deep sea container, or 2.5 metres vs 8 foot wide). Along with the 45ft length, the width is another reason why these boxes are not compatible with deep sea shipping, which relies on standard ISO dimensions being followed. 4S95 / 4E99 also convey some interesting tank containers, plus some Tesco boxes. Along with the Tesco-branded containers, I think there is other supermarket traffic using the train, which helps to provide a base load.

The quote above from Modern Railways mentions P&O ferry connections to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam, but P&O have now completely pulled out of Teesport. Another shipping line CLdN offers a Zeebrugge - Teesport RoRo service, and its website mentions the onward rail connection to Scotland: https://www.cldn.com/news/cldn-further-expand-its-teesport-service

A Teesport - Rotterdam container service is also in operation, run by A2B
https://a2b-online.com/news/rotterdam-↔-teesport-different-terminal-same-service/

Photos of one of their vessels used on this route (A2B Spirit) give an idea of the type of containers moved, including 45ft containers and a lot of Den Hartogh tank containers: https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=a2b+spirit
This photo demonstrates the difference in size of the A2B Spirit compared to the giant Maersk vessel passing behind it: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramonkok/53536282642/ (Photo: Ramon Kok)

It's also interesting to learn that a major shipping line - CMA CGM - is involved in short sea container shipping across the north sea. This PDF showing their routes is fascinating:
https://www.cma-cgm.com/assets/public/pdf/FLYER SSL EUROPE INTRA EUROPE ATL GLOBAL 09082017.PDF

While some of this is feeder traffic to larger ports for transfer to deep sea vessels, CMA CGM make clear that they can carry 45 foot High Cube Pallet Wide containers on these short sea routes:

A container that can carry the magical number of 33 Euro pallets AND be shipped by road, rail or sea? That’ll be the 45-foot container... Available in both 40-foot and 45-foot versions, our High Cube Pallet Wide containers are the ultimate solution for shipping by pallet. They are specifically designed to work with 1.2m Euro pallets and can fit two of these end to end down the full length of the container thanks to their 2.45m internal width.
https://www.cma-cgm.com/door-to-door#:~:text=The largest fleet of LNG,their 2.45m internal width.

A Facebook post by PD Ports talks about the CMA CGM Rundale serving Teesport, with a 2000 TEU capacity and "optimized features for 45-foot containers"

It's an impressive vessel, seen here entering the river Tees: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunish/54854458179/ (Photo: skaterboy195)
There are a lot of Unit45 containers visible, and 6 of the 8 stacks appear to contain 45ft containers (you can see the vertical line on the 45ft containers where there are securing points 40ft apart and the container extends slightly beyond this at each end).

The CMA CGM Rundale works an interesting weekly Baltic route taking it from Teesport - Tilbury - Rotterdam - Klaipeda (Lithuania) - Gdansk (Poland) - Teesport.
https://www.cma-cgm.com/ebusiness/schedules/line-services/flyer/BALT2

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Other ports with container trains
=====================

Container traffic by rail to and from Southampton, London Gateway and Felixstowe seems to be entirely dedicated to deep sea traffic, with no European 45ft containers moved by rail. This is also reflected in the composition of the trains - Freightliner services for deep sea traffic mainly use wagons with a 60ft deck (or 40ft in the case of the newer FWA and FFA designs) which are not generally suitable for 45ft containers. European traffic normally uses "megafret" wagons (IKA, FKA, FOA) with twin 50ft platforms, designed to handle 45ft High Cube Pallet Wide containers within W9 gauge.

For example 4S95/4E99 uses FKA / FOA megafrets, the 4E39 / 4L08 Tilbury - Wakefield service is entirely formed of IKAs, and so is the 4M03 / 4L03 Tilbury to Trafford service. DRS also have IDA low deck wagons specifically designed for 45ft containers, so these are used alongside IKAs on the Daventry - Tilbury services.

Also worth a mention is the 4E04 / 4L04 GBRF service from Doncaster Iport to Mossend and return. This now mainly uses IFA (multifret) wagons with a higher deck than the megafrets. These also have twin 50ft decks and were very common on the original channel tunnel services, before high cube containers became ubiquitous. 4E04 / 4L04 conveys a high proportion of Stobart-branded swapbodies, and their website seems to indicate it is a dedicated Stobart service:

2022: New Doncaster to Mossend rail service. Stobart launches the new Doncaster to Mossend Rail Service
https://eddiestobart.com/our-journey/

For a look at the containers on 4E04 (Stobart) and 4E39 (Samskip / Van Dieren / Geest) see the video "Trainspotting Evening Shift at Doncaster 17-12-25" by Yorkshire Railway spotter on YouTube. At 8:30 in the video the 4E39 Wakefield - Tilbury passes, and at 9:50 the 4E04 Mossend to Doncaster Iport service.

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Seaforth
======

Seaforth is the only other port I can think of that has regular container trains. While Seaforth does have some short sea services (such as CMA CGM services to Ireland and Spain, plus feeder services to London Gateway and Rotterdam), I think the Mossend - Seaforth service is aimed at Transatlantic trade. I assume that containers from Scotland to Ireland would be more likely to use sailings from Greenock, which is also owned by Peel Ports.

From a 2018 news snippet in Modern Railways:

DB CARGO has partnered with Peel Ports to launch a new rail service for containers via the Port of Liverpool. The service, which began on 8 May, will initially run on three days a week, comprising up to 30 wagons and over 40 containers per trip. Goods loaded at Liverpool will be transferred to the terminal at Mossend near Glasgow before onward delivery to destinations across Scotland. Return services to Liverpool will carry goods for export. DBC says Scottish company Walkers Shortbread will be one of the first customers, exporting 700 containers a year to America, while Kinross-shire based potato producer Cygnet PG has also committed to the new service.
https://www.modernrailways.com/article/new-liverpool-container-service

The GBRF service from Seaforth to Hams Hall (or East Midlands Gateway) also seems to cater for deep sea traffic, mainly using FWA / FEA wagons, with videos of the train showing typical deep sea boxes.

The Atlantic Container Line operating the transatlantic service from Seaforth is a bit unusual, as their ships are "ConRo" meaning they have a vehicle deck in addition to container stacks:
https://www.aclcargo.com/vessel-specifications/
The port calls on each side of the Atlantic are also interesting to see: https://www.aclcargo.com/transit-times/transit-times/

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Other ports, without container trains
========================

Other ports with short sea container traffic that don't currently have any containers moved by rail are Immingham, Killingholme (adjacent to Immingham), Hull and Purfleet. These were all served by EWS "Enterprise" wagonload services, and typically only wagonload volumes of container traffic were generated. Along with low volumes, container traffic from Immingham / Killingholme / Hull has another disadvantage in that much of it will be for northern England over distances which are more suited to road distribution, without a long-haul element. Purfleet did have dedicated Tesco container trains in the recent past, but these moved to the new facility at Tilbury 2 (possibly because the associated shipping services moved across when Tilbury 2 opened). Harwich also comes to mind - it had small volumes of container traffic which moved by Enterprise, and more substantial volumes of European container traffic were moved in BR days.

58050 looks glorious here with a trial flow from Doncaster Europort to Harwich in 1995 (Doncaster Europort is now known as Doncaster Railport and operated by Freightliner). Some European-style curtain-sided swapbodies can be seen on the train: https://www.flickr.com/photos/187414118@N06/52744545304/ (Photo: Dave Peachey)

37023 + 37010 are seen in 1999 with a Wakefield Europort to Harwich service, which doesn't appear to be particularly well loaded - in fact it seems to be 2 locos for 2 containers!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/deltic_baggie/6041437540/ (Photo: Tulyarman)

Harwich no longer functions as a container port; traffic seems to be mainly RoRo, with Stena Line serving Hoek van Holland and Rotterdam. Stena Line also serves Hoek van Holland and Rotterdam from Immingham.

Grangemouth is another port with a rail terminal (different to the DB Cargo terminal used for domestic intermodal). I recall there have been occasional trials from Grangemouth Docks to Elderslie, such as this Freightliner service in 2024: https://www.flickr.com/photos/184577166@N07/53571824299/ (Photo: Forward Signal)

The first container appears to be 45ft, and photos of trains in previous years on this route appear to show a mix of European and deep sea containers. With services to Rotterdam (as an example) this would make sense, as it would offer both European access and deep sea connections. But Elderslie is not especially far from Grangemouth, and with most container traffic through the port probably serving the central belt of Scotland, the lack of a permanent rail freight service at Grangemouth Docks is not too surprising.

Avonmouth is another place which has seen a limited amount of container traffic through the port using rail. The more recent container trains to Avonmouth from London Gateway don't really count, as they are using it as an inland terminal for imported wine. However, there were other container movements in the EWS era, both via "Enterprise" and a block train to Tyne Dock which conveyed components for Nissan at Sunderland, as seen here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/74165767@N05/49259544261/ (Photo: Driver 59)

08896 with "Enterprise" container traffic being offloaded at Avonmouth:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/74165767@N05/49210473982/ (Photo: Driver 59)

I'm not sure where those containers would have been shipped to, and it's hard to imagine scenes of wagonload container traffic (like the one with 08896) taking place now...

Some historical scenes demonstrating wagonload container traffic to and from Hull / Immingham on "Enterprise" services:

56129 with the afternoon Hull - Doncaster Enterprise in 1999. Two Geest boxes and a chemicals tank. The first wagon appears to be an FAA, necessary for high cube traffic on the route at the time (which is now cleared on megafrets).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/56249446@N06/53019283017/ (Photo: varleyroger2002)

Another view of the 6D54 Enterprise from Hull in 2001, this time with 10 Bell containers:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/47358616332/ (Photo: John Turner)

A single IFF 30ft bulk container (note hatches on roof) on 6D51 Doncaster - Hull with 37116 in 2000:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/shawfordjunction/26150569058/ (Photo: Shawford Junction)

56055 with 2 tank containers on an Immingham - Doncaster "Enterprise" in 2001:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jason15c/52259205221/ (Photo: Jason Cross)

A better loading of tank containers from Immingham behind 37370 in 1999:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sydpix/17292309831/ (Photo: Syd Young)

And a lovely shot of a forgotten working: 56038 with 3 tank containers on a Ditton to Immingham service, passing 37371 with steel empties from Wakefield Cobra in 1999:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/56249446@N06/52984192995/ (Photo: varleyroger2002)

Giving those typical loadings, it's not surprising there is currently no container traffic by rail out of Hull or Immingham.

A flavour of Purfleet container traffic in "Enterprise" days is given by this photo of 67007 working the 6L35 Wembley - Purfleet Enterprise trip in 2007, with 8 tank containers in tow:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/linesidesoutheast/30326912368/ (Photo: Anthony Kay)

 

[SWFreight]

I think you're right that serving short sea shipping by rail is more challenging due to the lower volumes; the Freightliner 4M03 service from Tilbury 2 to Trafford is not always well loaded, and DB struggled to fill the train when they ran it previously as a trial for a few weeks.

Below are some notes on the mysteries of containers, ports, rail services and short sea shipping. The info on shipping is based on what I've found online, but its not my area of expertise!

Thank you for this exceptionally detailed write up.

 

[stantheman]

A lot of intermodal are running ECML till mid Jan including 4S60 London Gateway to Coatbridge . I cannot find a corresponding southbound working ( same applies to Felixstowe to Coatbridge ) . There are a lot of Coatbridge to Crewe workings and I wonder if containers are attached to other services at Basford Hall ?

 

[Freightmaster]

A lot of intermodal are running ECML till mid Jan including 4S60 London Gateway to Coatbridge . I cannot find a corresponding southbound working

Here you go:

Realtime Trains | 4Z86 1946 Coatbridge F.L.T. to London Gateway Frghtliner | 07/01/2026

Real-time train running information for 4Z86 1946 departure from Coatbridge F.L.T. to London Gateway Frghtliner on 07/01/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

MARK