Maritime Transport opens Northampton strategic rail freight interchange
Maritime Transport, a leading provider of integrated road and rail freight logistics, has officially opened a new strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI) at SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton, expanding inland rail freight capacity within the UK’s logistics network.
image: Maritime Transport
The 17-acre facility forms part of the wider SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton development and represents the ninth rail freight terminal in the UK network operated by Maritime Transport, a division of Mediterranean Shipping Company. The terminal has been delivered through an investment of more than £80m by SEGRO.
The site provides direct northbound and southbound connections to the West Coast Main Line via the Northampton loop, enabling intermodal rail services linking ports with inland distribution centres in the Midlands. The terminal has capacity to handle up to 16 freight trains per day and can accommodate the UK’s longest and heaviest intermodal trains. Container storage capacity at the site is reported to exceed 2,500 TEU.
Rail services are already operating from the new facility, including an intermodal service connecting Northampton with the Port of Southampton. The service runs five days per week and is intended to provide an additional freight corridor linking the south coast container gateway with the Midlands logistics market.
The terminal was formally inaugurated during a ceremony attended by around 200 industry stakeholders, including Peter Hendy, the UK’s Rail Minister. Representatives from developer SEGRO, local authorities and logistics businesses were also present at the event marking the completion of one of the country’s newest rail-connected distribution hubs.
The rail terminal forms part of the wider SEGRO logistics park, which is expected to provide around five million square feet of warehouse and distribution space once fully developed. The site is located within the Midlands “Golden Triangle”, an area widely regarded as a key hub for national distribution due to its proximity to major motorway and rail networks.
Strategic rail freight interchanges combine rail terminals with large-scale warehousing and distribution facilities, allowing containers to be transferred between rail and road closer to their final destination. Industry stakeholders view such developments as an important component of efforts to shift more long-distance freight movements from road to rail while strengthening supply chain resilience.
The Northampton development adds to Maritime Transport’s national intermodal network linking major UK ports and inland terminals, supporting rail freight flows serving containerised import and export traffic.