A month since the launch of the weekly direct freight train service for perishable products from to London, the company operating the service say that it is going very well, so much so, according to their spokesman in the port of Alicante, Jesus Aznar, that, “We hope to open a second weekly frequency.”
So far there have been five departures to the UK since the beginning of November, all of which have been completely full, while the average occupancy in the opposite direction (from London to Alicante) seems constant at 50%.
This line, which was created after the UK left the EU, leaves Alicante every Friday at 11:30 am and arrives at London-Barking station on Monday at 8 am. The goods, however, are not available for delivery until 11 because of customs procedures, making the total transit time for the 1,700 kilometres journey between Alicante and London just 72 hours.
“We hope to reduce the transit time in the coming weeks by delaying the departure until 2:00 pm on Friday, which would allow the fruit and vegetable shippers to load their products that same morning,” the TMS manager stated.
Aznar also added, “We think that the UK’s growing transport problem will help consolidate this service and, very shortly, we’ll be able to open a second weekly frequency, which would depart on Tuesdays.”
