Maritime has revealed it is making "rapid progress" on the construction of its rail terminal at Castle Donington, East Midlands Gateway (EMG), due to begin operating officially at the start of 2020.
The 17-acre interchange, which will be capable of handling up to sixteen 775metre-long freight trains daily, has recently taken delivery of three new Sany reach stackers, and two Sany empty container handlers, to meet the strong customer demand expected.
Now rail-connected, Maritime’s largest terminal to date has already seen over 50,000 cubic tonnes of concrete poured ready for its container handling operations to commence.
It is hoped that all-new container handling equipment supplied by Cooper Specialised Handling will ensure minimal disruption to services and fast turnaround times.
All five Sany machines come as part of series of asset acquisitions Maritime has made across its network in recent months including a new depot in Avonmouth, hundreds of new vehicles and trailers and two Konecranes straddle carriers at its rail terminal in Tamworth.
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Commenting on the new plant equipment, operations director, John Bailey, said: "We believe the numerous benefits EMG has to offer will quickly be realised, and so having these machines ready to go to work will be crucial in enabling us to meet all customer requirements. Operating this terminal is a major milestone, and we look forward to offering customers even more advanced rail solutions."
Planning permission was granted earlier this year for a three-storey, 20,000 sq ft office at EMG that will act as a headquarters for Maritime’s rail subdivision, Maritime Intermodal, which launched in April. The new facility will act as a perfectly-situated hub for customer appointments, training workshops, and day-to-day operations, with state-of-the-art facilities for staff to utilise.
In addition to the office itself, planning permission was also granted for a vehicle maintenance unit, enabling Maritime to carry out container repairs and conversions as well as trailer servicing and minor vehicle repairs to its fleet
Refuelling and reefer points will also be installed on the terminal.
Capable of storing up to 5,000 TEU, EMG is already occupied with tenants such as Amazon, Shop Direct, K&N and Nestle.
Eventually, the area will house up to 7,000,000 sq ft of warehousing and will serve the major conurbations of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Castle Donington and Kegworth.
