Rail freight
Freight corridors
The trunk routes and corridors that carry rail freight — where the flows run, and what they carry.
How to read this
What am I looking at?
- Corridor
- A major freight trunk route linking ports, cities and industrial regions (e.g. the West Coast Main Line, or Felixstowe–Nuneaton).
- Route / branch
- A dedicated freight line or branch such as the Mendip aggregate corridor or the Hope Valley line.
- Commodities
- The typical traffic a corridor carries — intermodal, aggregates, biomass, steel, automotive.
- Electrification
- Whether freight on the route can run electric where the wires exist (much GB freight is diesel-hauled).
Dedicated freight-only railway linking Rotterdam with the German border and the Rhine-Alpine corridor.
GBChannel Tunnel freight corridorFreight corridorContinental freight gateway from the Channel Tunnel at Dollands Moor to London and the Midlands.
GBEast Coast Main LineFreight corridorKey north-south freight artery carrying intermodal from the Humber and north-east ports, plus coal and biomass to power…
GBFelixstowe to Nuneaton corridorFreight corridorThe busiest container freight axis in Britain, carrying deep-sea intermodal from the Port of Felixstowe to the Midlands…
CHGotthard Base Tunnel corridorFreight corridorFlat transalpine freight route through the Swiss Alps, the deepest and longest railway tunnel in the world.
GBGreat Western Main LineFreight corridorWestern freight trunk feeding the South West, South Wales and the Mendip aggregate flows.
GBHope Valley lineFreight routeHeavy aggregate traffic from the Peak District quarries to Manchester and the North West.
GBHumber to Aire Valley corridorFreight routeImmingham and the Humber ports feed biomass and coal to the Aire Valley power stations, plus steel to…
GBMendip aggregate corridorFreight routeDedicated aggregates corridor moving Mendip stone to London and the South East, including the Acton and Wembley terminals.
GBMidland Main LineFreight corridorFreight route from London to the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, serving major distribution and quarry traffic.
GBNorth Wales coast line (freight)Freight routeIrish Sea freight and nuclear-flask traffic between Holyhead/Valley and the English network.
EURhine-Alpine freight corridorFreight corridorEurope's busiest north-south freight corridor, part of the TEN-T core network linking North Sea ports to the Mediterranean.
GBSettle to Carlisle lineFreight routeStrategically important freight diversionary route over the Pennines, heavily used for aggregates and infrastructure traffic.
GBSouthampton to Midlands corridorFreight corridorDeep-sea container route from Southampton Container Terminal to the West Midlands and the North via Reading and Oxford.
GBWest Coast Main LineFreight corridorBritain's principal mixed-traffic trunk route and busiest freight corridor, linking London with the West Midlands, North West England…
Freight
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Open a corridor to see its operators, endpoints and the terminals it serves.