VICTA RAILFREIGHT has won a deal to provide ‘last mile’ services within the Port of Tilbury for Direct Rail Services.
The agreement is part of the launch of a new intermodal service operated by DRS for Eddie Stobart, connecting the Port of Tilbury to Tesco’s site in Daventry and operating three days per week (p25, last month). Victa will operate trains over the ¾-mile connection between the main line exchange sidings and the London Container Terminal at Tilbury. The company is also responsible for checking the loading trains, which can carry between 30 and 36 containers, and processing train documentation.
Tesco traffic: No 66421 hauls a service from Tilbury to Daventry over the Kensal Green chord on 17 September 2018, heading north to join the West Coast main line at Wembley. The container terminal at Tilbury has been devoid of traffic since the opening of the London Gateway terminal on the Thames estuary: the Tesco/Stobart working sees trains return to the facility. Steve Stubbs
Chunnel freight: No 66126 negotiating the complex track work at Willesden West London Junction on 27 September 2018 when hauling a Dollands Moor to Daventry (DIRFT) service of imported French mineral water. Steve Stubbs
