East Midlands Intermodal Park (EMIP) is a planned Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) located next to the A38/A50 Burnaston Interchange and Toyota manufacturing plant on the south western side of Derby.
The site has been included within the East Midlands Freeport – a special economic zone that has the potential to increase jobs, growth and innovation, while accelerating the region’s commitment to decarbonisation.
Part of a larger partnership with East Midlands Airport, East Midlands Gateway and Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, the Freeport recognises the potential role an intermodal park could play in growing the region’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, automotive and logistics, while supporting large regional employers such as Toyota. This includes opportunities to drive innovation in alternative energy sources and green technologies, helping the UK to meet its net-zero targets.
In March 2021, it was announced that the East Midlands Freeport would be one of eight new Freeports in England, with the Full Business Case formally approved by Government in March 2023.
However, planning consent is still required for EMIP and consultation with the local community and stakeholders is very much a part of this process. For further information, please visit the proposed scheme section of the website.
Freeports, sometimes referred to as ‘Free Zones’, ‘Special Economic Zones’ (SEZ) or ‘Free Trade Zones’ (FTZ) are areas where normal tax and customs rules do not apply.
As a Freeport, imports can enter with simplified customs documentation and without paying tariffs, and can therefore encourage economic activity, regeneration and job creation.
Through the UK Freeport policy, the Government is seeking to ‘level up’ the country’s most deprived areas, delivering high skilled job opportunities for people in underperforming regions, while creating hotbeds for inward investment and innovation around specific business clusters.
Goodman is an integrated industrial property group which owns, develops and manages industrial and logistics property globally. In the UK, the team has a wealth of experience in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects and market-leading developments that are strategically located and intelligently designed, benefitting its customers now and into the future.
To find out more about Goodman, please visit the website for further details.
Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges (SRFIs) need to be located near the customers and businesses they serve, linked to supply chain routes and where main road and rail networks intersect. There are only a limited number of locations in the UK which are suitable for SRFIs.
East Midlands Intermodal Park (EMIP) site lies on the south western side of Derby, within the administrative area of South Derbyshire District Council (SDDC). It adjoins the existing trunk road network (A38/A50) together with the motorway and strategic rail freight network (Stoke on Trent to Derby main line).
There is currently a waste-water treatment facility and composting facility on site. In the past, the majority of the land has been used for intensive sewage sludge recycling.
We are proposing to develop a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange; a logistics facility that will allow goods to be moved between the rail and road networks to support businesses in the region and across the UK.
EMIP would be connected to the existing rail and road network via a proposed new spur off the adjoining railway line into the development and a new junction off the existing A50/A38 Burnaston Interchange.
EMIP could include:
SRFIs form a network of gateways to rail and intermodal freight services, at strategic locations where main road and rail networks intersect. They play a key role in a more sustainable approach to transport in the UK helping to shift freight away from roads to rail. Rail transport has a range of benefits, providing a more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable way to move large volumes of freight. This in turn can help to reduce road congestion and carbon emissions, at a national level, and contribute to economic growth.
The delivery of goods by rail into EMIP offers the opportunity to reduce the number of long distance HGV movements needed at a national level. Each freight train can remove between 30 and 70 HGVs from the wider road network. Tonne for tonne, rail freight also produces 70% less carbon dioxide than road freight.
Due to the project’s importance in helping to meet Government policy objectives to shift freight from roads to rail, EMIP is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). Rather than applying for planning permission to South Derbyshire District Council like most planning applications, we will need to make an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to the Planning Inspectorate, with the final decision being made by the Secretary of State for Transport.
We undertook a first stage of consultation with the local community on the initial ‘Masterplan Options’ for EMIP in 2014, with feedback being incorporated into the development of our outline plans.
Before we progress an application, we will undertake additional consultation which will include further environmental information on the scheme. Details of any upcoming consultation will be publicised when available, with the local community given plenty of opportunity to have their say.
In the meantime, if you have a question about EMIP, please contact us on freephone number 0800 689 1095 or email [email protected].
For any media enquiries relating to the project, please contact Rebecca Eatwell on 07827 353 113.
