An’inland port’ planned for farmland near East Midlands Airport may create 7,000 new jobs. The East Midlands Gateway project will provide a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange on farmland north of East Midlands Airport.
Plans include up to 6 million sq ft of new distribution and storage buildings – and a freight terminal handling up to 16 trains a day.
Freight brought into the UK via Felixstowe, Hull or the Channel ports would arrive into the proposed distribution centre by rail, rather than road.
A local councillor said: “It brings 7,000 jobs to this region, it’s a simple as that.
“It takes lots of freight off the roads and puts it on rail instead.
“The area is a really strategic location.”
Chris Hobson, the East Midlands Chamber’s director of policy, had welcomed the development, saying: “The proposed East Midlands Gateway Rail Freight Interchange development will unlock huge economic benefits.”