The controversial plan by Manchester United Football Club to annex a rail freight terminal may just have taken a step towards an amicable outcome. The English Premiership club has its sights set on land adjacent to its massive but ageing stadium. Now, it has emerged that the current occupiers, Freightliner, may be willing to give up their rail terminal on the site.
Old Trafford is synonymous with Manchester United. However, in the world of intermodal logistics, it’s in the Premiership of rail freight terminals. Now, after revelations at this week’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, there’s the possibility of the rail freight operator going into voluntary relegation, to Liverpool. The outspoken metropolitan mayors Andy Burnham and Liverpool’s Steve Rotheram have both been cited as actively working on securing the deal, which could benefit both cities.
Reduce pressure on Castlefield Corridor
Jim Radcliffe, the chairman and CEO of chemical combine Ineos, and the principal owner of Manchester United, is behind plans for the football club to redevelop its Old Trafford estate. A transformative land deal, currently under negotiation, could see the football club’s neighbour, Freightliner’s Old Trafford rail terminal operations relocate from Old Trafford to Parkside East in St Helens, on the eastern edge of Liverpool. The redevelopment of Old Trafford has been stalled on the unavailability of the land to the west of the stadium, occupied by the Freightliner terminal. That could be changing though, if the deal understood to be in negotiation, goes through.
The proposed move, which has been confirmed by Freightliner, could offer significant benefits to the rail freight and logistics sectors. Not least, the new site, at Parkside East, would, at a stroke, radically reduce the pressure on key infrastructure in Manchester. It may well relieve the chronic congestion in the notorious ‘Castlefield Corridor’, a two-track section through a heavily urbanised part of central Manchester. The tracks are frequently overloaded with a mixture of freight and passenger traffic.
More services and boost for St Helens
Speaking to a regional media source, Freightliner confirmed that it had taken an interest in land at Parkside East, with a view to establishing new intermodal facilities there. Freightliner, one of the UK’s largest rail freight operators, is reportedly operating its Old Trafford base at full capacity, moving up to twenty trains a day. The new site at Parkside East would allow Freightliner to handle more services. The strategic location, nearby the expanding Liverpool docks and within a designated freeport, makes the transfer an attractive proposition. Negations could well be centred on the ‘transfer fee’ paid by the football club.
For the logistics sector, the potential relocation offers improved efficiency in goods movement. Parkside East, where Freightliner reportedly is planning over 230,000 square metres of rail terminal space, is well-placed to accommodate future growth in freight volumes, for both domestic and international trade. The relocation would also open up capacity on the Liverpool-Manchester rail line, currently constrained by freight traffic, allowing for expanded passenger services and easing congestion through Warrington. Those benefits will not have gone without notice by Messers Burnham and Rotheram.