The Ryebridge Construction team at the rail terminal opening: Robbie Miller project manager, CEO Daniel Coyle, managing director Sean Scully and Kevin Wilson, construction manager
A new multi-million pound rail terminal built by Ryebridge Construction has been officially opened in Southampton.
The new Solent Rail Terminal, which strengthens Southampton’s leading position as the UK’s number one gateway for deep-sea trade, took 18 months to complete, including a full design and build, and is the first project of this type Ryebridge has worked on.
The completion of the facility was marked with a plaque unveiling at an event for rail freight and maritime leaders and customers on 20 March at the Solent Stevedores’ operated Solent Rail Terminal in the western docks.
A £17.5m investment between Associated British Ports (ABP) and Solent Stevedores, the 18-acre facility expands the intermodal rail transport site to broaden the service offer with laden and empty container handling, storage, maintenance, and repair within a single-site boundary.
Features of the new site include a newly designed track layout facilitating simultaneous train arrival and departures increasing the terminal’s efficiency and extending the rail loading pad by 130m. The larger intermodal site including container storage with full maintenance and repair facilities will be able to handle a 71% increase in daily services with a 125% increase in number of containers handled.
Ryebridge chief executive Daniel Coyle said: “The construction work undertaken by Ryebridge Construction has further strengthened the rail facilities for customers at the Port of Southampton giving them greater choice over their container placement and storage.”