Eurotunnel's rail freight arm Europorte Channel has completed a trial run of unaccompanied semi-trailers from Antwerp, Belgium to Russell Railfreight Terminal, Barking of East London in seven hours.
The freight train's test run carried megatrailers from Dutch carrier's Ewals Cargo Care with automotive components for Vauxhall on High Speed 1 to London.
Europorte Channel commercial director Neil Crossland said he hopes for a daily service which would operate over HS1 at night, return the following night, leaving roughly 20 hours for trailers to be delivered and reloaded, cited a report from Surrey-based Railway Gazette.
It has already had interest in extending the network to the Midlands and the North-West with Network Rail. If the service allows shippers to migrate from trucks to road, supporting environmental strategies, it must compete on price, he added.