DP World extends its Modal Shift Programme

DP World has extended its Modal Shift Programme until the end of next year. The programme is aiming to move 40% of freight at its terminal in Southampton via rail by 2026 and with it, removing thousands of trucks off the country’s roads.

Since the programme was launched in September 2023, the share of rail freight at Southampton has hit 30%, increase from 21%. The success of the programme has led to DP World introducing four new daily rail services from its Southampton terminal. The new services will take the total number of weekly scheduled trains at Southampton to 172.

John Trenchard, Vice President UK Commercial & Supply Chain at DP World, said: “Due to the positive increase in the share of rail freight since the trial’s inception, we believe that we can target a 40% share of rail freight target in 2026. At a time when customers face multiple challenges, including escalating geopolitical uncertainty, increased regulatory risk, and the urgent need to decarbonise supply chains, our Modal Shift Programme has proved highly attractive.”

The news of the extension of the Modal Shift Programme coincides with the latest UK rail freight usage figures from the Office of Rail and Road being released.

The figures show that freight moved by rail between January and March of this year was just under 4 billion tonnes, a decrease of 5% from the same period last year. The period also showed the second lowest annual freight performance since records began in 2013 with just over 90% of trains arriving within 15 minutes.

The figures reflected the challenging year for rail freight according to Robert Girgis, Director of Policy, at Rail Partners, who commented: “Wider economic conditions continue to affect demand for rail freight services and, while Network Rail performance has improved reliability in recent months, more work is needed to improve performance further and restore customer confidence.

Despite the wide consensus on the importance of rail freight growth, now backed by the government’s commitment to a long-term growth target, this data shows consistent freight growth won’t happen on its own.”