Germany and the UK are the two largest economies in Europe but, despite what some might think, there have been no freight trains running regularly between them for over 15 years. RailFreight.com had an exclusive interview with UK-based consultancy InnoRail to understand how this happened and what needs to be done to re-establish rail freight flows between these two European super powers.
“There are no timetabled freight services running between Germany and the UK today. The only movements through the Channel Tunnel are one-off trains, typically new rolling stock being delivered into the UK, or locomotives, wagons and coaches being sent back to Europe for heavy maintenance”, an InnoRail spokesperson pointed out.
The situation is the same when it comes to connections between the UK and the rest of continental Europe, with no regular services since 2023. “Two flows defined the market for decades”, the spokesperson said. The first one connected the Grember hub near Cologne in Germany and Wembley, near London, which was halted in 2009. The second one ran between Valencia, in Spain and Dagenham, east of the UK capital, for over 40 years and was discontinued in 2023. Since then, nothing.
The Kensington Treaty
Last summer, Germany and the UK signed the Kensington Treaty, a document which could have helped bring back regular rail freight links between the two countries. Though the agreement revolves around defence, technology and energy, the rail focus was solely put on reinstasting passenger services, the InnoRail spokesperson highlighted.
This happened for a few different reasons, they added. First, the decade-long absence of regular Anglo-German rail freight connection. Secondly, the “political focus was on high-profile passenger connections such as London-Frankfurt or London-Berlin”. Moreover, running freight trains along the Channel Tunnel is costly and with limited path availability.
Wasted opportunity
The exclusion of rail freight from the Kensington Treaty, then, looks like a missed chance. Both the UK and the EU claim they want to increase the share of rail freight, with international traffic being a significant factor. However, this and many other policies often seem to point in the opposite direction, making the lives of rail operators more difficult.
In addition, Brexit led to more obstacles for freight transport between the UK and continental Europe, such as border checks for lorries and ferries which makes these types of transport more complicated. Including rail freight in the Kensington Treaty could have alleviated this problem, but “the opportunity to design customs clearance at inland rail terminals was not part of the negotiations”, the InnoRail spokesperson underlined.
What needs to happen?
“Re-establishing German-UK rail freight would require coordinated action”, they said. On the operational side, the prerogatives are competitively priced freight paths through the Channel Tunnel and modern and interoperable rolling stock. Commercially, the main issues are to secure flows (car parts or finished vehicles, high-value goods and fresh produce) and to find logistics providers ready to commit and guarantee volumes.
When it comes to policies and infrastructure, the name of the game is rail terminals. Customs and security processes should be redesigned so that they can be carried out in inland facilities, giving rail freight a more level playing field with trucks and ferries. This also means that terminals need to be capable of handling international cargo. “There is current interest in a daily service between Dourges (France) and Barking using Huckepack trailers, but land and access issues at Barking remain unresolved”, the InnoRail spokesperson concluded.