29th December 2003

The Port of Felixstowe is celebrating a record number of containers transported by rail in November and December 2003, with volumes being broken three times in only a few weeks.

An impressive 6,519 units were loaded and discharged at the Port in Week 47 (17th to 23rd November), a significant increase on the previous record of 6,347 units, set in Week 51 (16th to 20th December) last year. This new record was further broken in Week 49 (1st to 7th December), with a total of 6,536 units, and again the following week (8th to 14th December), with 6,676 units.

This record rail throughput comes at a time when significant enhancements are taking place in respect of rail activities at the Port of Felixstowe.

On 15th December 2003, Freightliner Limited launched a new service to Hams Hall, to cater to the important manufacturing industry in the Midlands, which followed their introduction, on 20th October, of a new freight link from the Port of Felixstowe to Tibbett & Britten's International Rail Terminal at Daventry.

GB Railfreight also added to the range of rail services offered from the Port of Felixstowe with the launch of its new Midlands service to Hams Hall on 20th October.

Richard Pearson, Managing Director of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, commented:

"We are delighted with the record-breaking rail volumes we have seen through the Port in the past few weeks. These figures provide clear evidence of the growing demand for rail, and the Port remains as committed as ever to increasing the share of freight transported on the rail at Felixstowe. I would personally like to thank all our customers, and in particular our dedicated staff in the Rail Division, for helping us to work towards achieving this objective."

There are now a total of 22 inbound and 21 outbound trains per day from the Port of Felixstowe's North and South Rail terminals. These trains link the Port to Coatbridge (Glasgow), Trafford Park (Manchester), Liverpool, Leeds, Cleveland, Birmingham, Cardiff, Tilbury, Doncaster, Selby, Widnes, Wakefield, Hams Hall, and Daventry. The Port also handles two forest products trains per day at its dedicated paper-handling rail terminal.

Note to Editors:

Port of Felixstowe (PFL) is the largest container port in the UK and the fifth largest in Europe. PFL is a member of the Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL). HPH is the world's leading port investor, developer and operator with interests in 15 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Today, HPH operates in a total of 32 ports together with a number of transportation related service companies.

For further information, please contact Paul Davey, Corporate Affairs Manager, on Tel No: 44-1394 604987, Fax No: 44-1394 604943 or e-mail: daveyps@hpuk.co.uk