News

Liverpool's paper trail through the Channel Tunnel

For Immediate Release - 10 October, 2006

A new daily train service has pulled into the Port of Liverpool with newsprint railed through the Channel Tunnel and shipped across the North Sea for distribution into press rooms throughout the North West of England.

The first early morning arrivals carrying as much as 700 tonnes of paper in up to 14 specialist rail cars, were shared by two of the print industry's top suppliers - Stora Enso, one of the world's largest paper and packaging manufacturers, and the German producer Leipa GMBH.

Included in the cargoes railed into the Liverpool Intermodal Freeport Terminal (LIFT) were the largest reels of paper produced in Europe, each four metres long and weighing 6.5 tonnes, which are being supplied by Leipa to the new £115 million pressroom established by Prinovis close to Liverpool's John Lennon Airport.

The regular paper trains now arriving Monday to Friday at the Port of Liverpool are being discharged by specialist paper terminal operators Stanton Grove into their modern 100,000 sq ft warehouse equipped with over-the-track canopy protection against inclement weather.

The Leipa trial consignment of 1,000 tonnes of paper - including the giant reels - is being railed across Germany from Schwedt on the River Oder and through the Channel Tunnel into Britain, where it is joined at Doncaster by rail cars containing Stora Enso paper shipped into the UK East Coast, before crossing the country to Liverpool.

Stora Enso anticipate substantial growth in sales to North West of England press rooms and other customers as a consequence of establishing the regular flow of paper into the Port of Liverpool from their mills in Sweden and Finland.

Frank Robotham, Marketing Director for Peel Ports Group, which owns the Port of Liverpool, said the new daily train service was further recognition of the Port's pre-eminence as a logistics base for the North West and beyond. "This substantial distribution hub within Liverpool Intermodal Freeport Terminal, demonstrates the Port's ability to offer a complete integrated service encompassing the expertise, modern appropriate facilities and ample capacity expected by companies involved in international trade, wishing to serve the North West Region."

Ken Roberts, Operations Director of Stanton Grove who have been nominated by Prinovis as one of their preferred suppliers of newsprint, said the first rail deliveries to the warehouse had been textbook exercises.

"We are delighted by the speed and efficiency with which these substantial trains have been discharged without damage," he said. "The launch of this traffic marks a significant milestone for Stanton Grove and the Port of Liverpool in the distribution of forest products."

Activation of the LIFT loop line branching off the Port of Liverpool's main link with the national rail network, brings to six the rail terminals within the Docks and establishes the Port as the largest and most diverse single railhead within the North West Region. Railed cargoes total more than four million tonnes a year and range from containers, to coal, to recycled metal and steel.

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