Telford International Railfreight Park (known as TIRFP) is rail freight depot and construction development site located in Donnington to the north of

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...

, on the former route of the

Stafford to Shrewsbury Line Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in the ...

. The terminal was opened in 2009. The development of TIRFP was initiated through a partnership between

Telford and Wrekin Council Telford and Wrekin Council is the local authority of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The district of Telford and Wrekin was grant ...

, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, and the

Homes and Communities Agency Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). HCA in turn was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2 ...

(then

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor ...

) in 2001. Located on the former Wellington to Stafford railway line of the Shropshire Union Railway, the is located northeast of

Wellington railway station Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. The station opened in ...

and is connected to the (

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

)

Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

just to the east of that station. Located on the former

MoD Donnington MoD Donnington is a British military base situated to the north of Donnington, Telford, Shropshire. History The site was chosen in 1936 as one of a number of less vulnerable locations for storing ordnance and other military equipment previously ...

stores, it is adjacent to existing manufacturing and warehousing facilities in Hadley Park and Hortonwood Industrial Estates. Located off Hortonwood Roundabout on the A518, it closest

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

access is via Junction 5 of the M54. With development started in 2008, TIRFP was officially opened by Shadow Secretary of State for Transport,

Theresa Villiers Theresa Anne Villiers (born 5 March 1968) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005. A member of the ...

MP, on Wednesday, 10 June 2009. Owned by

, the site, when opened, was operated under lease by John G Russell Transport Ltd. In 2010 the sidings at the railfreight park have also been used to store redundant rolling stock, including Class 508

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...

(taken to Telford using diesel locomotives), as the park is currently suffering from low freight usage. Wrockwardine Wood and Trench Parish Council approved the original planning application, forwarded to Telford and Wrekin Borough Council with only minor opposition. In 2012, John G Russell pulled out of running the terminal and

DB Schenker Rail (UK) DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS)), is a British rail freight company headquartered in Doncaster, England. The company was established in early 1995 as ''North & South Railways'', successful ...

were appointed to take over control of the terminal. DB Schenker have been running the only regular service into and out of the terminal since it reopened (that of a once-a-week MoD train). Currently, as of March 2021, Class 196 Diesel Multiple Units intended for use with West Midlands Railway are being stored here while awaiting service on their brakes which emit excess noise compared to other multiple units. Unused sections of the site have been utilised as long term van storage for hire firms. This has enabled the terminal to employ its first full-time worker. The vans arrived on site in March 2015 and DB Schenker Rail (UK) hope that incoming vehicles can be delivered via the rail connection.

References

External links

Telford International Railfreight Park
{{coord, 52.716, -2.455, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000 Buildings and structures in Telford Transport in Shropshire Railway freight terminals in the United Kingdom