AN upgraded freight rail link to transport supersized containers between Southampton and the West Midlands is officially opened today.

The two-year £60m project will allow bigger freight trains distribute food, clothing, electronics and other goods to shops and supermarkets in a quicker, greener and more economic way.

Network Rail has carried out extensive works to upgrade the rail line through Southampton to handle a next generation of containers between the port and the West Coast Mainline.

Along the route it knocked down and rebuilt 16 bridges, lowered and slewed the track in 22 places including the tunnel at Southampton Central Station, and adjusted 11 station canopies and two station platforms.

Previously the 9ft 6inch “high cube” containers - a foot taller than standard containers - had to be loaded onto specialist wagons.

Transport minister Theresa Villiers, who attended the official opening of the link at Southampton Central Station, said: “Ensuring economic stability and growth is vital and one way to achieve this is by investing in the UK’s rail freight network.

That’s why we have provided £43m of funding to upgrade this important rail link between Southampton and the West Midlands, which will enable more goods to be transported across the country faster and more efficiently.”

It estimated that the upgrade will allow up to 50,000 lorries a year to be taken off the roads, easing traffic jams and helping reduce the billions of pounds road congestion costs the economy annually.

Robin Gisby, Network Rail’s director of operations, said: “With the added environmental, efficiency and economic benefits it brings, continued investment, such as we’ve seen here, is essential.”

Port owners ABP plans increase the number of containers transported by rail from around 26 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030.

The container terminal, run by DP World Southampton in a joint partnership with ABP, is the UK's second largest, handling around two million containers.