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Doncaster iPort or Doncaster Inland Port is an intermodal rail terminal; a ''Strategic Rail Freight Interchange'', under construction in
Rossington Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill. Geography Historically part of the West Riding of Yorks ...
,
Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
at junction 3 of the M18 motorway in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is to be connected to the rail network via the line of the former
South Yorkshire Joint Railway The South Yorkshire Joint Railway was a committee formed in 1903, between the Great Central Railway, the Great Northern Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway to oversee the constructi ...
, and from an extension of the former
Rossington Colliery Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill. Geography Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshir ...
branch from the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
. The development includes a intermodal rail terminal to be built on
green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...
land, of which over was to be developed into warehousing, making it the largest rail terminal in Yorkshire; the development also included over of countryside, the majority of which was to remain in agricultural use, with other parts used for landscaping, and habitat creation as part of environment mitigation measures.


History

In 2006 developer HelioSlough began a public consultation around their proposals to create a rail freight depot west of Rossington. In 2007 the ''Rossington Eco Town Partnership'', an association of Rossington Forward, Rossington Development Trust, and local landowners and property developers
UK Coal UK Coal Production Ltd, formerly UK Coal plc, was the largest coal mining business in the United Kingdom. The company was based in Harworth, in Nottinghamshire. The company was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The successor company that c ...
,
Persimmon Homes Persimmon plc is a British housebuilding company, headquartered in York, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Persimmon was founded by Duncan Davidson in 1972. The company is n ...
, Helios Properties and Rossington Hall Limited presented plans to build a large ' eco town' development over a 20-year timespan of ten to fifteen thousand homes on land to the south and west of
Rossington Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill. Geography Historically part of the West Riding of Yorks ...
. The plan included redevelopment of the
Rossington Colliery Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill. Geography Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshir ...
site, and included as part of the employment proposals the plan from Helios Properties for an
Inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...
. The development, which would have used significant amounts of agricultural land was opposed by a large majority of local residents. The project was shortlisted as one of 15 potential sites in the UK for a new town development in 2008, by 2009 the scope of the plan had been reduced to a five thousand home 'eco-village'. In 2009 developer HelioSlough submitted a planning application for a $516 million rail terminal with of warehousing; the plan represented the largest rail logistics development in Yorkshire, and was to be operated and part funded by Hutchinson Ports. The application, which included development on
green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...
land was approved by
City of Doncaster Council City of Doncaster Council is the local authority of the City of Doncaster, a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. Prior to being awarded city status in 2022 the council was called Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Cou ...
but opposed by the
Campaign to Protect Rural England Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar produ ...
, and four parish councils. In January 2010 local MPs
Caroline Flint Caroline Louise Flint (born 20 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Don Valley from 1997 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she attended the Cabinet as Minister for Housing and Planning in ...
( Don Valley) and
Jeffrey Ennis Jeffrey Ennis (born 13 November 1952) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley East and Mexborough from 1996 to 2010, having been first elected at the Barnsley East by-election in 1996. Early ...
( Barnsley East and Mexborough) voiced their support for the plan.Sources: * * * In March 2010 the UK government decided that no public enquiry would be needed for the project. In June 2011 developers Helios Europe, Shepherd Aligned and
Segro SEGRO plc (formerly known as Slough Estates Group) is a British property investment and development company based in London, England. It develops and invests in property located in the United Kingdom and Continental Europe focusing on edge of to ...
entered into a joint agreement to develop the site, which would be road connected via the £18 million Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS) road scheme, and be built for international trade, with customs clearance. In September 2011 planning consent was given for the rail port; construction of the facility was initially planned to begin in 2012. The tendering process for a rail operator of the port was begun in 2012: DB Schenker Rail UK,
Associated British Ports Associated British Ports (ABP) owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and mari ...
,
Stobart Group Esken Limited (), formerly Stobart Group Limited, is a British infrastructure, aviation and energy company, with operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company is registered in Guernsey but has its operational head office in London, ...
and Freightliner were listed as potential operators.
Hutchinson Whampoa Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) was an investment holding company based in Hong Kong. It was a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL was an international corporation with a dive ...
had also been reported as a potential rail operator in 2011. In 2013 the successor company to Helios Europe, Verdion obtained financial backing for its projects through Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP). HOOPP planned to invest €1 billion in European logistics facilities through Verdion including the £400 million ''"iPort Doncaster"'' development. Work on the FARRRS connecting road began in late 2013.


Site development plan

The railport lies directly adjacent to and south, west, and east of the M18 motorway,
Rossington Colliery Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill. Geography Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshir ...
and spoil heaps, and former
South Yorkshire Joint Railway The South Yorkshire Joint Railway was a committee formed in 1903, between the Great Central Railway, the Great Northern Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway to oversee the constructi ...
respectively. Historically the land was entirely agricultural, known as ''Little Moor'', and part of
Potteric Carr Potteric Carr is a large area of land to the southeast of Doncaster, in Yorkshire, England, over in size. History One of the earliest references to Potteric Carr comes from the itinerary of Leland c.1540: As Leland travelled into Doncast ...
; ''Potteric Carr farm'' was located in the northwestern portion of the site. The land is low lying, about 5m above sea level, and was drained by man made cuts. Potteric Carr Nature Reserve is to the north of the site. The entire site covers , of which is used for the development, is access land, and is countryside. Construction of the first phase was estimated to take 2 years including roads and rail access, of warehousing and rail terminal; with further warehousing constructed at a development rate of approximately per year; the entire project was estimated to be complete in 8 years. The rail terminal is planned to connect to the rail network via both the single track freight only (since 1929) former
South Yorkshire Joint Railway The South Yorkshire Joint Railway was a committee formed in 1903, between the Great Central Railway, the Great Northern Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway to oversee the constructi ...
(SYJR) (northward and southward connections), and from an extension of the former
Rossington Colliery Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill. Geography Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshir ...
branch off the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
. The terminal is to be built to handle containerised (
ISO Container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a freight container, (or simply "container") is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different mod ...
,
Swap body A swap body, exchangeable container or interchangeable unit, is one of the types of standard freight containers for road and rail transport. Based on and very similar to the more widespread shipping containers (ISO containers), swap bodies norm ...
), and wagon-load trains, with a capacity of 20 trains per day. The connection from the SYJR would be the primary route to the facility, which would have 4 reception sidings and 5 handling sidings, as well as all distribution warehouses rail connected, with addition lines for damaged wagons, and locomotive storage. Gauging enhancements to
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
W10 are planned for connecting lines, with construction design allowing overhead electrification at a later date. The track plan allows train lengths of up to , with siding lengths between ; trains over would be handled by an on site shunter. In addition to the rail terminal, track work, and road access further
civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...
works was required as part of the plan, mainly environmental mitigation, including diversion of St. Catherine's Well Stream, landscaping, flood mitigation and drainage, footpaths, cyclepaths and bridleways. Developer estimates of job creation were over 4,000 jobs net created on site as a direct result when fully operational.


Construction and development

Verdion began the construction of a c. and a warehousing unit in May 2015; erection of the warehousing's frames began in November 2015. In April 2016 Fellowes acquired a warehouse space, also to function as the company's new UK headquarters. After some testing in late 2017, the site officially opened to railway traffic in February 2018, however, regular freight trains did not start until 12 September 2018 when
Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...
officially unveiled the new terminal. A week later, container trains from Southampton were arriving at the site at a rate of one per day site. From April 2019, the iPort is also served by two trains daily from
Teesport Teesport is a large sea port located in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, Northern England. Owned by PD Ports, it is located approximately inland from the North Sea and east of Middle ...
. The terminal is also now served by two trains daily to and from the
Port of Felixstowe The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's largest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a ha ...
. All of these trains are operated by
GB Railfreight GB Railfreight (GBRf) is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is owned by the global investment company Infracapital, itself a subsidiary of M&G plc, a UK investment group. GB Railfreight was established in April 1999 ...
.


Notes


References


Sources

*
alt link
via Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council *


Further information

* **


External links

;Official * ;Defunct official * * * {{Intermodal railfreight terminals in the Great Britain Railway freight terminals in the United Kingdom Rail transport in Doncaster