Europorte Channel, the provider of traction services for freight trains through the English Channel Tunnel and haulage from Spain and Italy to the UK, has been granted approval to use its fleet of Class 92 locomotives between London and the Tunnel.
Access to the High Speed 1 (HS1) rail route will mean that Europorte Channel can haul larger gauge and higher speed freight traffic between destinations across the continent and London, through the Channel Tunnel, with the journey time from the Tunnel to London being reduced from four hours on traditional routes to just 70 minutes.
Europorte Channel train drivers are currently being trained to drive on the new route and it is expected that new commercial services will start early this year, according to the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce.
Europorte Channel can now use its 16 Class 92s throughout the UK network and through the Channel Tunnel, meaning that there is only one locomotive change necessary when arriving in France, where the Class 92s are still unauthorised.
GB Railfreight managing director John Smith said the approval was good news for the future of rail freight in the UK as well as internationally.
“The extra speed and increased size of wagons that can be carried on HS1 bring significant advantages to rail freight transportation,” he said.
“[W]e hope that this move will pave the way for further expansion of rail freight through the Channel Tunnel," Smith added.
Part of Europorte, the railway freight subsidiary of Group Eurotunnel, Europorte Channel was the second operator, after the French SNCF, to be granted a licence authorising it to develop rail services throughout the European Union.
Europort Channel uses 11 specialised Class 92 Brush locomotives to haul freight trains between the two Channel Tunnel Terminals: Dollands Moor in the UK (Kent) and Frethun in France (Pas de Calais).
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