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England-based Freightliner Aug. 20 signed a 10-year contract with Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) to provide the ocean transportation provider a dedicated round-trip train five days a week beginning Sept. 3.

Freight-rail provider Freightliner plans to use a dedicated Class 66 locomotive to run the container trains between Southampton and Manchester, England.

OOCL chose the route because the company's ships access Southampton's port moving to and from Asia and the United States, and OOCL considers Manchester an ideal inland rail hub for its Northern England customer base.

Using dedicated trains also would enable OOCL to bypass England's congested highways: "This [contract] will provide OOCL with long-term access to rail capacity when trucking in the United Kingdom is becoming increasingly difficult, " said Ted Wang, managing director of OOCL (Europe) Ltd., in a prepared statement.