Maritime Transport has won the Sustainability and Environmental Excellence Award at the Rail Freight Group (RFG) Awards 2026, recognising the delivery of one of the UK’s most ambitious decarbonisation programmes to shift more long-distance container movements from road to rail while electrifying the essential road miles that remain.
The award was presented at the annual RFG Awards Dinner on Thursday 10th September at Hunton Park Hotel, Watford. This year’s event was supported by Burges Salmon and GB Railfreight.
Maritime’s winning entry set out the largest clean transport investment programme in its history, including more than £100m of private investment in rail-connected terminals, new intermodal services and capacity since 2019, alongside the national deployment of eHGVs and high-powered charging infrastructure through Maritime ZERO.
Over the same period, Maritime has more than quadrupled rail’s share of movements across its network, from around 6% to more than 25%, with new services connecting DP World London Gateway, DP World Southampton, and the Port of Felixstowe with inland terminals including Hams Hall, iPort Doncaster, East Midlands Gateway, Manchester and Northampton.
Maritime has also invested heavily in inland terminal capacity to accommodate that growth in rail volumes. In February 2026, the company opened its Strategic Rail Freight Interchange at SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton, its ninth rail terminal. The 17-acre site, within the UK’s logistics Golden Triangle, can accommodate up to 16 rail services per day and store more than 2,500 TEU.
As rail takes a greater share of long-distance container movements, road remains essential at either end. Maritime ZERO, the company’s zero-emission road transport division, is decarbonising those miles, with 38 eHGVs already in service and 56 in total being introduced during 2026, representing one of the country’s largest hire-and-reward eHGV fleets.
Behind that fleet, Maritime is developing one of the UK’s largest independent eHGV charging networks, with 22MW of power secured. Of this, 14MW is allocated across 12 confirmed sites, with a further 8MW secured for three additional locations currently in planning. At full build-out, the network will be supplied by 100% renewable electricity and capable of charging more than 200 eHGVs simultaneously.
Many of the charging locations sit close to or within major ports and inland rail terminals, enabling eHGVs to complete suitable first-and final-mile journeys while rail carries the longer-distance movement. Selected sites are also available to approved third-party operators, giving other fleets access to high-powered charging without the immediate cost of developing their own infrastructure.
John Bailey, Managing Director – Intermodal, Maritime Transport:
‘We’re incredibly proud to win this award. Rail has a critical role to play in decarbonising UK supply chains, and increasing the proportion of long-distance container movements we move by rail is fundamental to that. Integrating those journeys with electric road transport at either end reduces emissions across the overall movement, and it’s encouraging to see our eHGVs now operating across a growing number of customers’ supply chains, with the high-powered charging network behind them addressing one of the biggest barriers to wider adoption.’
‘This award from the RFG is fantastic recognition for our teams across Maritime, and for the customers and partners working closely with us to make it all happen.’
The RFG Awards celebrate excellence across the UK rail freight sector, recognising achievements in business performance, rail freight growth, innovation, safety, sustainability, major projects and individual contribution.
