Rail Freight
SOUTHAMPTON CITY Council has granted planning permission to Network Rail for freight sidings at Redbridge to be extended.
The scheme will see two sidings lengthened to accommodate 775-metre-long trains, an improvement on the 520-metre trains that can currently be accommodated. NR says the works at Redbridge will enable trains to operate between the Freightliner terminal at the Port of Southampton and Redbridge sidings without transitioning onto the main line.
Network Rail had previously applied to return land at Redbridge Wharf Park to operational railway use by providing two additional 775-metre sidings, but this was refused by the council in August 2017.
The revised application now approved provides improved mitigation for the loss of public open space, with NR committing to provide the council with an area of land and sufficient funds to enable a change of use from a car park to a public open space, dubbed a ‘pocket park’.
