A large rail freight depot in East London is to be upgraded to handle more cargo moving between Britain and mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel – reviving a site that was purpose-built for exactly that role.
The Barking Eurohub, near Dagenham, is the UK’s only rail-linked intermodal freight depot with a direct connection to High Speed 1 — and therefore a direct rail route to Europe (and beyond) via the Eurotunnel.
A hub built for Europe, but then largely unused.
The Barking Eurohub was developed in the late 2000s alongside the opening of HS1, with the explicit aim of enabling international rail freight services between the UK and continental Europe. Its location was chosen to allow long freight trains to access HS1 without passing through busy passenger routes, creating what was intended to be a strategic gateway for European trade.
In practice, however, international rail freight never reached the levels originally envisaged. Regulatory barriers, security requirements, and a lack of suitable terminals on both sides of the Channel meant that only a limited number of bulk, single-customer freight flows ever used the Channel Tunnel.
There are also loading gauge issues, which have increased in recent years as mainland European trains moved to larger containers that can’t be transported by rail on the UK’s older smaller clearance railways. Making better use of rail to move HGV trailers, where they can be hooked up to lorries in the UK, is seen by Network Rail as an important missing market that could also address the loading gauge problem.
According to a 2023 report by Network Rail, Channel Tunnel traffic now forms a smaller proportion of rail freight in Britain than at any point since the tunnel opened. A proposed Eurotunnel upgrade of the depot was put on hold last year amid a row over taxation after it claimed a hike in business rates made the investment unviable.
As a result, Barking Eurohub has remained significantly underused for international traffic.
What intermodal freight means
Intermodal freight is when goods are transported in standardised units, like containers, that can be easily transferred between different modes (e.g. rail, road sea), meaning a faster and more efficient way of moving cargo over long distances.
£15m upgrade to unlock international freight
Under a Government-backed deal, Network Rail and its property development arm Platform4 are taking long-term control of the Barking Eurohub site from its current owner, Legal & General.
Now that they are managing it, £15 million will be invested to upgrade the terminal and transform it into a fully functioning international logistics hub. Although details of what the upgrades will involve are still being fleshed out, previous reports about the depot outlined the problems the upgrade would fix.
What was highlighted is that the layout of the terminal and the associated infrastructure that trains must use to access it require complex shunting arrangements involving the splitting and joining of trains as they are unloaded and loaded in portions.
Also, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) Exchange Sidings, into which trains immediately arrive from HS1, are a slightly sub-optimal length at just over 750m, with 775m the established industry standard for intermodal trains.
There are also issues further down the line that limit the length of freight trains on the HS1 railway, which could be addressed through signalling upgrades.
Network Rail says the upgraded Barking Eurohub will offer a realistic alternative to road traffic, allowing goods to move directly between Britain and Europe by rail and helping to shift freight off lorries and onto trains.
Rail Minister Lord Hendy said: “This deal is a huge opportunity to reinvigorate rail freight by paving the way for the return of regular services through the Channel Tunnel.
“It will boost British businesses by opening new trade links to Europe, delivering a faster and more sustainable way to transport goods to the continent and back.
“This is all part of our plan to use our railways to support economic growth and jobs.”
Growing rail freight is a central part of the Government’s rail reform agenda. Once Great British Railways is established, it will have a statutory duty to promote the use of rail freight, with the Transport Secretary setting formal growth targets – something the long-awaited revival of Barking Eurohub is designed to help deliver.
Network Rail is already in discussions with organisations that have already expressed interest in becoming the international rail freight operator at the transformed Barking Eurohub site.
