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Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal is a rail port and logistics centre located near Rugby, Warwickshire and Crick, Northamptonshire just south of the beginning of the M6 and a short distance from J18 of the M1 motorway.
DIRFT is located between three main roads, the A5, A428 and M1. It is in a prime location with access to the three roads mentioned above and with links to the A45, M6, A14 and A426.
The centre is 79 miles (127 km) from London, 40 miles (64 km) from Birmingham, 36 miles (58 km) from Leicester, 121 miles (195 km) from Manchester and 127 miles (204 km) from Southampton. It is within a 4.5 hour drive of 85% of the UK's towns and cities. The site occupies approximately 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land.
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History
The site was designed in early 1990 but construction did not start until 1996. It was officially opened in 1997 by HRH The Princess Royal. DIRFT is linked to the nearby Crick Industrial Estate.
Present
There are a number of companies which have centres within DIRFT, including:
- Tesco
- DHL Exel Supply Chain
- Eddie Stobart
- WH Malcolm Logistics
- Royal Mail
- Ingram Micro
- Mothercare/Early Learning Centre
- Ibis Hotel & Restaurant Rugby East
Future
A massive extension (DIRFT 2) is planned along the A428 between Hillmorton and the Halfway Garage. This will feature a new rail port. Planning consent has been obtained to build the 1.945 million sq. feet development, which will have both distribution and manufacturing sections.
Local Area
- Towns and Villages.
Crick, Hillmorton, Lilbourne, Ashby St. Ledgers and Kilsby all lie within a few miles of the centre. Towns beyond that but are still nearby include Rugby, Northampton, Lutterworth and Daventry.
- Hotels, bars and shops.
The Ibis hotel is located at DIRFT West, between the A428 and the M1. The Crick Holiday Inn lies in between the M1 and Crick-bypass Junction. There is a pub near the centre which is the Halfway House located on the A5/A428 Junction which lies in both Northants and Warwickshire.
Health Clubs
Attached to the Holiday Inn there is the Spirit Health Club.
Rail services
Rail services to and from DIRFT are operated mainly by Direct Rail Services and Freightliner (UK). There is a small group of services which are provided by English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS), and also FirstGBRf. Trains originate from as far as Mossend in Scotland - to as near as Marcroft Engineering, in Stoke-on-Trent. The planned 'DIRFT 2' extension should see a large growth in railfreight traffic, to and from Daventry.
External links
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