EWS predicts boom in UK rail freight

Rail freight specialist EWS Network is predicting a sharp rise in the number of intermodal containers transported by rail.

The creation of Yorkshire-based EWS Network, part of EWS Group, enables the logistics market to include rail as a significant part of its supply chain for the first time. EWS Network is intended to be at the heart of the "biggest drive ever seen" on UK railways.

The use of rail freight services in domestic intermodal, maritime containers and through the Channel Tunnel will rise by up to 400% by 2015, according to Network Rail's Freight Route Utilisation Strategy.

Stuart Boner, managing director of EWS Network, says: "The intermodal and logistics sectors have been waiting for the rail industry to develop the products that allow rail to be integrated into their supply chain. We've listened to their demands, developed the products, and are now targeting the sector to use rail."

EWS Group, established in February 1996, claims to have boosted the amount of freight moved on the rail network by 60%.