Southampton Docks
Blockades to enable signalling improvements will entail short-term disruption for passengers but result in long-term environmental benefits. PAUL CLIFTON reports
“We have to balance the need to keep the terminal open, with minimising the impact on our passenger services.” Mark Killick, Wessex Route Director, Network Rail
“Each longer train coming out of this terminal will mean the equivalent of 12 fewer lorries on the local road network.” Lucy Phipps, Scheme Sponsor, Network Rail
MAJOR disruption to the railway will take place around Southampton in January and February, culminating in a weeklong closure of lines west of Southampton Central, with buses replacing all passenger services.
The blockade is the final stage of a two-year project to enable longer freight trains to serve the container terminals in Southampton docks.
The Freightliner Maritime Terminal will be able to load trains 775 metres long instead of 520 metres.
Each train will be able to carry an additional 12 containers on 11 daily services to the Midlands and North West, removing heavy goods vehicles from congested roads approaching the docks.
New junctions to sidings at Redbridge, outside the container terminal, are being installed during weekend blockades in January. They will be accessible without slow freight movements having to join the South Western Main Line towards Totton.
In February, new signalling across a wide area will then be commissioned, with distances between signals extended to accommodate the longer trains.
“There is never a good time to disrupt the railway,” said Mark Killick, Network Rail Route Director for Wessex.
“We have to balance the need to keep the terminal open, to keep these goods coming in and out, with minimising the impact on our passenger services. A week to commission the signalling is the minimum time we need.”
Lucy Phipps, scheme sponsor at Network Rail, added: “We are increasing the capability of the network. This is the last piece in the jigsaw of a much wider programme of freight improvements, from the port of Southampton all the way up to the north west of England.
“Freight is at the forefront of our daily lives. This is really important. And there are massive environmental benefits for the local community.
“Each longer train coming out of this terminal will mean the equivalent of 12 fewer lorries on the local road network. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and makes life better for local residents. There’s a decrease in noise pollution as well. It is massively in line with green targets set by Government.”
The changes will reduce how long it takes for the longer freight trains to pass over key pinch points on the network, clearing junctions more quickly.
Emma Dempsey, chief commercial officer at Freightliner, said: “This enables us to operate far more efficiently. We will have longer, heavier trains with much more capacity to move containers inland. It gives us an extra 10% to 15% capacity.
“It hasn’t disrupted business. During the COVID period, we have had the opportunity to work with Network Rail to trial these longer trains, which went successfully. We have made some tweaks to how we operate, and this final bit over the next few weeks will finish the job.”
Southampton’s Western Docks has three rail freight terminals.
Freightliner’s Maritime Terminal is the largest, loading up to five trains at a time and moving 800 containers a day on at least 11 services.
It is served by the port’s straddle carriers direct from the dockside. Ship to train can take as little as half an hour, although most boxes are delivered to the terminal two hours before departure, and typically loading from quayside to train takes 12 hours. The terminal gantries load 18 to 20 containers an hour.
Freightliner’s Millbrook terminal is smaller and only connected to the port by lorry, so each container has to be loaded first onto a road vehicle and then transferred to a rail wagon, making it much less efficient.
GB Railfreight operates a two-siding terminal in partnership with Solent Stevedores. Business has expanded rapidly and now entails nine container trains a day.
There are separate facilities for trains carrying cars elsewhere in the docks.
On the weekend of January 30-31, lines from Southampton Airport Parkway in the north to Bournemouth in the west and Fareham in the east will be closed, along with the route to Romsey. Buses will replace trains. This will disrupt services as far afield as Weymouth, Brighton and Bristol.
On the weekend of February 13-14, lines from Eastleigh to Brockenhurst and Romsey will be closed.
Then, for the week of February 15-19, lines from Southampton Central to Romsey and Brockenhurst will be closed.
It follows extensive disruption in the region over the Christmas period, with Network Rail carrying out improvement work on lines into London Waterloo. Tracks between Basingstoke and Salisbury were closed for a week between Christmas and New Year. And work in the Portsmouth area is disrupting services for much of January. This includes bridge strengthening beneath Portsmouth & Southsea station.
“We will have longer, heavier trains with much more capacity to move containers inland.”
Emma Dempsey, Chief Commercial Officer, Freightliner