Regional rail project, Birch Coppice

A new regional infrastructure programme is full steam ahead following the successful completion of a rail project in Birch Coppice, north Warwickshire to connect a freight terminal to the main rail arteries in the region for the handling of 'big box' containers.

The £2.7m project, which has eliminated thousands of lorry journeys and safeguarded more than one hundred jobs, saw Network Rail replace drainage and lower the railway track under two listed bridges in the Whitacre Heath area to enable the haulage of the larger ISO High Cube 9'6" 'big box' containers by rail to the Birmingham International Freight Terminal (BIFT) at Birch Coppice, close to the M42 in North Warwickshire.

The project is the first to receive support from regional development agency Advantage West Midlands' £14million Regional Infrastructure Fund - a catalyst to lever additional funding into projects that might not otherwise be delivered in current market conditions, and one of four key programmes announced during the Cabinet visit to the region last autumn.

Advantage West Midlands invested £1m in the north Warwickshire project.

Work started on site in January 2009 and was finished in four months with the first train travelling along the line on 11th May 2009. Freightliner immediately introduced a new 'big box' service between its Lawley Street terminal and Birch Coppice, instantly reducing the number of lorries on the road. There are also proposals to introduce further services from Felixstowe, which will reduce carbon emissions and road congestion even further.

Jo Kaye, Route Director said: "This is a great example of our determination to get more freight off the roads and onto our rail network."

Darren Cope, Partnerships Manager at Advantage West Midlands, said: "Transport is one of the key priorities of the West Midlands Economic Strategy and this project and the investment by Advantage West Midlands will have a positive impact on the region's transport network.

"Companies in the West Midlands and around north Warwickshire will be less dependent on road freight transport to move goods and will be helped to maintain a competitive edge with a greener and more efficient logistics solution.

"The cost of fuel and congestion means that we are increasingly looking to rail freight as a means of transport and there is a real need for this kind of facility in the West Midlands.

"Rail solutions are once again the way forward. It is important that we are able to react on behalf of business and ensure that major infrastructure can be put into place to support them in their international trade.

"The benefits of this project have been felt almost instantaneously and have exceeded expectations in that more than 300 lorry loads are already being transported regularly by rail instead of by road.

"The future of the terminal at Birch Coppice has been secured with 120 jobs safeguarded, while our transport infrastructure has been further modernised and carbon dioxide emissions reduced, by 963 tonnes over three years and 4,000 tonnes over 10 years, which are all fantastic results.

"Advantage West Midlands will continue to invest in projects and programmes which deliver the greatest economic impact."

Roadway Containers Limited also contributed £120k to the works.

This forms part of a complex project which aims to clear routes from the container ports of Southampton and Felixstowe to the inland terminals in the West Midlands including BIFT.  Network Rail is tasked with delivering the £55m scheme and is carrying out work at 55 sites between Southampton and Nuneaton to enable the larger, modern containers preferred by many global shipping firms to be efficiently transported by rail across the whole of the UK.

Currently around 28 per cent of containers which come into the Port of Southampton are moved by rail, however, in order increase this, it will be necessary for the railway to be able to carry the more modern 9' 6" or 'high-cube' containers, which are the most economical method for shipping goods, particularly from the USA and the Far East. 

Just one freight train running Monday to Friday can take 22,000 trucks off the equivalent road network per year.