Major investment in rail freight at Port of Grangemouth

A multimillion-pound investment has been announced in the rail freight offering at the Port of Grangemouth, intended to cement its position as the key strategic freight and export/import hub for Scotland.

The £3 million investment will significantly scale up and modernise the port’s current rail capacity to create an extended dual rail siding of 775 metres – currently 200 metres – capable of handling the longest freight trains on the UK network.

When operational early next year, Grangemouth’s will be the first rail freight terminal to offer this and provide enhanced container / domestic intermodal options particularly for customers in the food, drink and perishables sectors across the Scottish freight community.

Grangemouth’s investment in rail comes at an important time for the freight market as businesses are seeking flexible, resilient, and greener supply chain solutions. The port has the unrivalled position of being truly interconnected for sea to rail and rail to sea, with the added flexibility of direct road access into Central Scotland and beyond. With regular container ship calls into the port each week from mainland Europe and the South East of England, this increased rail capacity will help to take trucks off the UK’s congested roads and to lower customers’ carbon footprint.

The port also has on-site distribution warehouses with cross docking possibilities and is within a few miles of the main supermarket distribution centres within Central Scotland.  Grangemouth’s key strategic location in Scotland allows customers to take advantage of the excellent road, rail and shipping network that the port offers.

Commenting on the investment, Derek Knox, senior port manager, said: “Over the past five years, we have invested over £30 million in the Port of Grangemouth to offer our customers first class service and connectivity for their businesses. We now look to extend this further and the investment in our rail terminal is part of our strategy to provide more resilient, cost effective, greener and efficient options for rail freight transportation to our existing and future customers.