Eurotunnel buys rail freight firm

Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel snapped up the UK’s third biggest rail freight firm in a £31m deal today.

Eurotunnel’s move for GB Railfreight – which has been owned by transport firm FirstGroup since 2003 – comes as the firm looks to improve rail freight volumes through the Chunnel, which suffered in the recession.

GB Railfreight is the second major UK player in the sector to change hands in recent years after Germany’s Deutsche Bahn bought rival EWS in 2007.

Eurotunnel chairman Jacques Gounon said the deal was “a further expression of our commitment to the UK”.

“Growing concerns about the environment and the increasing need for freight transport over both long and short distances mean that rail freight is a growing market,” he added.