The fleet of twin platform ‘Shortliner’ wagons was ordered in April to meet the demand of the evolving deepsea container market towards 40ft containers.
The 40ft two-platform wagons are designed to maximise the amount of 40ft containers that can be hauled per service, minimising under-utilised 20ft space.
Freightliner said Shortliner wagons enabled it “to maximise port and inland capacity, reduce CO2 emissions and increase network utilisation by maximising the amount of boxes that can be hauled on one service”.
Freightliner can haul longer, heavier trains using its PowerHaul locomotives on the Shortliner services and is able to increase the number of 40ft containers hauled per train by more than 42%, compared with a standard Class 66 service hauling 24 wagons, while still fulfilling the available 20ft market customer demand.
Shortliner services began with eight twin-wagons (16 platforms) between the port of Felixstowe and Manchester.
Freightliner MD Adam Cunliffe said: “The new wagons complement Freightliner’s existing 60ft wagon fleet, ensuring a dramatically improved utilisation of both 40ft and 20ft containers.
“Our capability to haul longer, heavier trains, combined with the new Shortliner wagons, reaffirms Freightliner’s market leading position to ensure that more containers are moved by rail, with reduced lorry movements and associated reduced CO2 emissions.”
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