An 8 million sq ft extension of Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (Dirft) has been given the green light by the Secretary of State.
Dirft III will have a capacity for up to 32 freight trains in and out of the site each day, handling more than 500,000 containers a year.
Located next to the M1 motorway and the West Coast main line, DIRFT III is the first Strategic Rail Freight Interchange to secure a Development Consent Order (DCO) in line with the Planning Act 2008 and is the largest rail-linked logistics development in the UK.
The first buildings of the £1 billion project are expected to be ready by 2016. Once complete, the facility will employ around 9,000 people.
Andrew Griffiths, managing director of Prologis UK, said: “Logistics plays a vital role in the UK economy, underpinning the success of many other sectors from retail and e-commerce to manufacturing.
“Since it is both more cost-effective and more carbon-efficient to transport freight by rail rather than by road, DIRFT provides the facilities necessary to service and support growth across the economy.”
Philippa Edmunds, Freight on Rail manager said “Daventry Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) demonstrates that rail and road complement each other and that these SRFIs allow efficient cost-effective transfer between the modes. So it is crucial that the Government’s National Networks National Policy Statement makes it clear that getting planning permission for a network of strategic rail freight interchanges across the UK, like Daventry, is an essential part of getting freight onto rail in order to reduce road fatalities , road congestion and pollution.”
