The Anonymous Widower

Footage Released Of East West Rail’s First Commercial Freight Train

The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Network Rail.

These four paragraphs give detail to the story.

The inaugural journey was part of a dual first, as it also saw the entry into service of Maritime Transport’s Northampton Gateway Terminal.

This Easter Network Rail completed its work there to join the 35-acre freight facility directly to the West Coast Main Line via the Northampton Loop.

The modern junction design allows freight trains to enter and exit the site at speeds of up to 40mph, which is eight times faster than conventional freight connections.

Clearing the railway junction much faster will significantly improve both passenger and freight journeys – as it reduces the impact on other services running on the main line.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the location of Maritime Transport’s Northampton Gateway Terminal.

Note.

1. The red track running diagonally across the bottom half of the map is the West Coast Main Line.
2. The orange track running North-South is the Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line.
3. The blue arrow indicates Northampton station.
4. The grey line running diagonally across the map, vaguely parallel to the West Coast Main Line is the M1 Motorway.
5. The SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton Gateway is indicated between the Northampton Loop and the M1 Motorway.

This Google Map shows the layout of the logistics park to a larger scale.

Note.

1. The Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line running North-South across the map.
2. The M1 Motorway running between the North-West and South-East corners of the map.
3. Junction 15 is the M1 junction in the South-East corner of the map which connects the logistics park and the A45 to the M1.
4. Junction 15A is the M1 junction in the North-West corner of the map which connects the A43 and Northampton services to the M1.
5. There is probably space to add more warehouses and other facilities.

The logistics park is well connected to both rail and road.

This second Google Map shows the rail connection to the logistics park in more detail.

From this map, it appears that Network Rail have met their objective outlined in this paragraph of the news item.

The modern junction design allows freight trains to enter and exit the site at speeds of up to 40mph, which is eight times faster than conventional freight connections.

As only freight trains and slower passenger trains use the Northampton Loop, I would expect that freight trains should be able to enter and leave the logistics park with the minimum of disruption to traffic on the Northampton Loop.

The Route Of Yesterday’s Train

These three paragraphs from the Network Rail news item describe the route.

The first commercial freight train has travelled along the East West Rail line as part of its journey into a new strategic rail freight interchange in Northampton.

Shortly after 13:00 yesterday (Monday 16 June) the service* from Didcot came onto the new infrastructure at Oxford, travelling the 35 miles to Milton Keynes to connect with the West Coast Main Line.

It marked the first time East West Rail infrastructure has been used for commercial freight, after many months of signaller training and train driver learning since the £1.2bn railway was completed in October 2024.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the route from Didcot to Milton Keynes.

Note.

Didcot Parkway station is in the South-West corner of the map.

Milton Keynes Central is in the North-East corner of the map and marked with a blue error.

The route is via Oxford, Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village, Winslow and Bletchley.

This video shows the train passing Winslow.

June 17, 2025 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | East West Railway, East-West Rail, Freight, M1 Motorway, Maritime Transport, Milton Keynes, Network Rail, Northampton Gateway Terminal, Northampton Loop Line, Northampton Station, Oxford, SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton, Video, West Coast Main Line, Winslow Station