Dubai-headquartered international port operator DP World has been named Rail Freight Business of the Year by Logistics UK. The gong comes in recognition of its efforts to shift container traffic from road to rail and improve the commercial viability of rail freight.
The award highlights DP World’s Modal Shift Programme, launched in 2023, and comes as rail continues to play a central role in the decarbonisation of UK freight logistics. Business group Logistics UK named DP World the Rail Freight Business of the Year at its annual awards ceremony, citing strong take-up of the operator’s Modal Shift Programme and measurable carbon savings.
Modal shift recognised
The modal shift programme was launched in September 2023 to tackle the underutilisation of UK rail freight. The incentive scheme pays a bounty for moving containers inland by rail instead of road. According to figures from DP World and Logistics UK, around a quarter of available capacity on intermodal trains can run empty. While moving freight by rail delivers emissions savings of up to 76% compared with diesel road haulage, higher costs have historically discouraged shippers from making the switch.
However, the DP World scheme has highlighted latent demand. In its first 18 months, the initiative moved 103,475 containers by rail from DP World’s Southampton hub. Rail’s share of container movements increased by 10% (to over 30% of containers, with an estimated 28,200 tonnes of CO₂e eliminated, underlining growing industry confidence in rail-based solutions.
Incentives and interport rail services
Two initiatives sit at the heart of DP World’s rail freight strategy. The first is the incentive scheme at Southampton, designed to encourage import-laden containers to move inland by rail rather than road. It was by reducing the cost differential between modes, that the scheme aimed to make rail a commercially realistic option for a wider range of customers, not just those with established intermodal flows – for whom volume brings its own commercial advantages.
Alongside this, DP World also operates its own five-times-a-week intermodal “interport” train service between its London Gateway and Southampton terminals (see WorldCargoNews.com). The service links two of the UK’s largest container ports by rail, allowing boxes to be repositioned efficiently between deep-sea hubs, supporting shipping line networks and reducing reliance on long-distance trucking. It also helps DP World operate the two port terminals as a single business unit. The terminals are roughly 120 miles (193 kilometres) apart.
Industry praise
“DP World has led the way in improving the commercial viability of rail, increasing rail share and helping to decarbonise UK freight logistics,” said Kevin Green, Logistics UK’s Acting Chief Executive. “I would like to congratulate DP World on its win. It truly is ‘the best of the best’ in the rail sector.”
“We’re delighted to win this award for [our] Modal Shift Programme for our road to rail shipments,” said John Trenchard, Vice President Commercial & Supply Chain, UK at DP World. “It’s really nice to be recognised. A lot of people came together to get this done so I’m very proud on behalf of DP World. Thanks to all our logistics partners who have decided to try something a bit new with rail, resulting in over 140,000 shipments.”
Tesco highly commended
Another long-standing user of rail freight, Tesco Distribution, was highly commended in the same category. The retailer is one of the UK’s largest rail freight customers, operating an extensive network of intermodal services linking ports, distribution centres and regional hubs. Tesco has worked closely with rail freight operator Direct Rail Services over many years, using rail to move thousands of containers each week. partnership has helped remove significant volumes of heavy goods vehicle traffic from the road network, while providing reliable trunk haulage for one of the UK’s most complex retail supply chains.
As the country’s largest supermarket group, Tesco’s commitment to rail freight carries wider significance for the sector, demonstrating that rail can meet the demanding service, reliability and cost requirements of high-volume grocery retailing. The supermarket chain recently extended the movement of refrigerated containers into South Wales, in a collaboration with infrastructure agency Network Rail.
Logistics UK is one of the UK’s largest business groups, representing logistics businesses across road, rail, water and air, as well as major buyers of freight services. With more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and movement of goods, the organisation says logistics has never been more important to UK plc, particularly as decarbonisation, new technology and supply chain disruption reshape the sector.