72 | Tees Business
ON THE
Right Track
PD PORTS POSITIONS TEESSIDE AS
OUTWARD-LOOKING GLOBAL REGION
Confidence -
PD Ports CEO
Frans Calje.
Tees Business hears
about the positive
impact of PD Ports’
second rail service
running directly
between Teesport
and Scotland.
T
here has never been a more important
time to move goods around the country
by rail, alleviating the over-burdened
UK road network and chronic HGV driver
shortage while helping customers reduce
carbon emissions and cut costs in their
supply chains.
PD Ports is at the forefront of this agenda
and in the last four years, since the launch
of a £3m quayside rail terminal at Teesport,
the port operator has become the leading
rail hub in the north for European and global
exporters and importers.
Considerable growth in container volumes
year-on-year at Teesport was a catalyst in the
decision made by PD Ports’ management
team that led to the opening of a quayside
rail terminal in November 2014.
Initial services ran on weekdays to and
from Felixstowe and three days per week
to and from Southampton. Demand grew
rapidly and a direct link to Grangemouth and
Mossend in Scotland followed less than 12
months later.
The overwhelming popularity of the
Scottish connection led to the recent launch
of a second service opening up further
opportunities to connect global importers and
exporters with the north of the UK.
The new service, operated by DB Cargo,
runs five days a week from Teesport to PD
Stirling Terminal at Mossend near Glasgow.
The timings of the service operate in direct
connection with the P&O Ferries service
calling daily at Teesport from Zeebrugge and
Rotterdam; offering one of the fastest routes
to Scotland from the continent for shippers,
shipping lines and forwarders.
Teesport now offers more direct daily
connections to and from Scotland than any
other port in the north of England, running 10
trains a week and the potential to carry more
than 30 containers per journey each way full
with a variety of goods including food, drinks
and furniture.
A substantial proportion of containers