REGULAR intermodal services could soon resume between Britain and mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel, according to Britain’s Department for Transport (DfT), which on February 25 announced government backing for a deal that will see £15m of private investment in the Barking Eurohub terminal in east London.
Infrastructure manager Network Rail and its property development company Platform 4 are taking a long-term lease on the intermodal terminal which is currently owned by Legal & General. DfT says this will unlock £15m of private third-party investment that NR will spend to upgrade rail infrastructure and establish warehousing and other logistics facilities.
According to Guy Bates, head of freight development at Network Rail, the upgraded terminal will be able to accommodate trains up to 700m long, formed of conventional European wagons moving between the Channel Tunnel and London on the High Speed 1 high-speed line that was built to the more generous UIC GC loading gauge.
Three services a day are expected to operate from Europe. Combined with connecting services from Barking to the Central Belt of Scotland, South Yorkshire, the Midlands and northwest England - what Bates describes as "the logistics heartland" of Britain - these will remove 140,000 lorries a year from the roads.
The government has provided financial backing to enable Network Rail to enter into the deal. A DfT spokesperson told IRJ that no further details are being released as they are commercially sensitive. However, DfT says that Network Rail is in discussions with organisations that have expressed interest in becoming the cross-border rail freight operator at the upgraded Barking Eurohub terminal.
According to Bates, income from the Barking terminal will be reinvested in similar projects in order to help meet the government target of increasing rail freight traffic by 75% by 2050.
Intermodal to return?
Investment at Barking is expected to support the return of regular intermodal services to mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel, opening up export and import markets to France, Germany, Italy and Spain while reducing road congestion and pollution in southeast England.
The last intermodal service through the Channel Tunnel, running from Daventry and Dagenham to Silla near Valencia in Spain, ceased operating in 2024. There are only two remaining flows of trainload freight for single customers through the Channel Tunnel, including trains carrying mineral water on almost daily basis from several locations in France to Daventry.
A service carrying Toyota cars operates between Toton near Nottingham and Valenciennes in northern France three times a week in both directions. According to Channel Tunnel operator Getlink, a total of 1102 freight trains used the fixed link between Britain and France in 2025, down 11% on the year before.
No details are yet available of future intermodal services, except that DB Cargo will be the operator. Getlink abandoned plans for a new service from Barking to Dourges in northern France last year due the planned increase in business rates at Barking, while DB Cargo has already announced plans for a service from Daventry to its intermodal hub at Valenton in the southeastern suburbs of Paris.
“By securing Barking Eurohub and unlocking more than £15m of private investment, we’re putting in place the infrastructure needed to restore regular cross-Channel intermodal freight services, supporting British businesses and trade, while also helping to protect our environment,” says Network Rail chief executive, Jeremy Westlake.
“The Channel Tunnel is a vital strategic asset that is presently under-utilised,” says Maggie Simpson, director general of the Rail Freight Group (RFG).
“This investment by Network Rail and Platform 4 is of huge importance and will help unlock renewed growth in international rail freight between Britain and Europe.”
