Larger than the Larger Than Life tour, but Five all the same. You’re nobody these days if you’re not celebrating an anniversary. So, step up to celebrate, East Midlands Gateway, blowing out the candles on the fifth year of rail freight operations this month. Being designated a UK Freeport hasn’t hurt, either.
Since its inauguration in March 2020, the SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway (EMG) has evolved into everyone’s idea of a pivotal hub for UK rail freight. If Britain was looking for a rail-served warehouse farm, with an airport on the doorstep, halfway between Derby and Nottingham, on the equinox of the logistics ‘Golden Triangle’, then it’s a case of which granted. With a rock festival thrown in for good measure.
Twice as popular now
Discretely hidden behind a cutting, so not even motorway traffic can be distracted, the Maritime Transport managed EMG quietly goes about distributing intermodal traffic all over Britain. Quiet is relative – to the constant roar of motorway traffic, and the frequent roar of jet engines from the adjacent runway. The once-a-year roar of the crowds at Download is a logistics challenge that doesn’t interfere with the heavy metal being downloaded on the dedicated branch line to the terminal.
The official opening of the EMG Rail Freight Terminal (28 February 2020), drew government attention. The Rail Minister at the time, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, officiated the ceremony. EMG has lasted longer than his tenure in office – eight changes of office bearer since then tells its own story. Despite the farcical frequency of ministerial movement, EMG has been moving boxes with increasing frequency and recently doubled in size to meet demand.
Expansion and capacity enhancement
The 17-acre open-access terminal was designed to handle up to sixteen 775-meter-long freight trains daily, with storage capacity for over 5,000 TEU. In its initial year, six daily services connected the facility to Felixstowe (three times), one to DP World London Gateway, Southampton and Liverpool.
Recognised as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), the terminal expansion was carried out between September 2022 and June 2023. Two additional 775-meter intermodal loops were constructed, with additional run-round tracks, doubling the terminal’s capacity. The terminal apron at East Midlands Gateway can now accommodate up to 20,000 TEU, stacked up to six high. It’s still hard to spot from the adjacent motorway, and the vast logistics park draws the eye of arriving air passengers. It is possibly England’s most discrete NSIP. Happy anniversary.