Rail Transport Efficiency
Switching from road to rail can reduce carbon emissions by up to 76% per tonne-kilometer.
- Environmental Impact Reduction 90%
- Cost Efficiency 80%
- Traffic Congestion Reduction 70%
- Fuel Efficiency 90%
- Safety Improvement 80%
- Operational Reliability 70%
What does 34 trains down to 24 a week mean for Felixstowe haulage?
What the Drop in Trains Means for HGVs – In Context of Shipping Lines Leaving
This isn’t a surge in rail demand. It’s the opposite.
Shipping lines have pulled out of Felixstowe, meaning less container volume coming into the port. As a result:
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Rail services have been cut — from 34 trains a day down to 24
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That’s because there’s simply less freight to move
So, what does this mean for trucks?
1. There are fewer containers overall — but more of them now go by road
With fewer vessel calls, there’s a decline in total box volume — but:
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Rail operators cut back faster than road hauliers do
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The containers that may been moved on cancelled trains are now more likely moved by HGV when there is a surge.
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That’s an imbalance: even with less volume overall, road picks up more of the share and gets more trucks and trailers, then the shift changes at short notice.
2. Rail share of the port’s throughput drops
Rail is the most efficient option, but it relies on steady container flows. With shipping lines diverting elsewhere:
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Trains lose economies of scale
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Operators drop services
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The remaining boxes get moved by road, even if inefficient
In short: road becomes the fallback when volume drops below viability for train slots and the hauliers have to adjust accordingly.
3. VBS and terminal gate pressure stays high
Despite lower total box counts:
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Hauliers still scramble for limited VBS slots – although this has got better in recent times.
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The port’s VBS system doesn’t scale down as fast as demand and this is a good thing right?
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Result: road becomes even more frustrating for smaller firms picking up the slack, being undercut on people capitalising on this.
4. Security, emissions, and efficiency all go backwards
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Rail = secure, sealed, low-emission transport
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Road = more risk of theft, driver limits, and delays
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Trains are not only greener but bypass port bottlenecks — losing them hurts everyone downstream
Final Thought
Less shipping into Felixstowe has meant fewer rail departures — and that’s bad news. Because the remaining boxes don’t just vanish: they now go by truck. And every time we lose a train, we lose:
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60 containers off rail
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Thousands of driver hours added to the road
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A critical piece of port efficiency and reliability
Until vessel calls increase again, rail will shrink and road will stretch — with hauliers left holding the burden