Ports and port connectivity

Ports policy is fully devolved to the Scottish and Northern Ireland governments and partly devolved in Wales, therefore this briefing focuses on ports and port connectivity in England (see section 1.1 of the House of Commons Library briefing Ports and Shipping FAQs).

Port ownership

In terms of ownership, there are three kinds of ports in the UK, private ports, municipal ports and trust ports:

• Trust Ports are managed by a local independent board and do not have shareholders or owners. They are required to be operated in the interests of their users and any financial surpluses generated should be re-invested into the port. Examples include Dover, Aberdeen, Tyne, Milford Haven, the Port of London Authority, and Belfast.
• Private ports are private entities, often owning large trust ports which were privatised in the 1990s (For further historical information on see the House of Commons Library briefing Ports: privatisation of trust ports). These include ABP (which owns Southampton, Grimsby, Hull, Port Talbot and others), Peel Ports (Liverpool, Clydeport, London Medway and others), Forth Ports (Tilbury, Forth), and DP World. There are also smaller private ports such as Portland and Newhaven.
• Municipal ports are publicly-owned by the local authority. Sometimes these are trust ports that have gone out of business and been taken over by local councils. These tend to be smaller ports, with some exceptions like Portsmouth International Port, Sunderland and Orkney.

For further information on port ownership, see section 2 of the Library briefing Ports and Shipping FAQs.

Ports data

• There is no official UK-wide publicly available list of all ports. However, a privately-maintained list (currently 983 ports) can be seen at org.uk. These are not broken down in terms of size.
• The DfT lists 346 ports (132 minor and 214 major ports) in the UK which are used to calculate its freight statistics where a major port is defined as a port with cargo volumes of at least 1 million tonnes annually.
• In 2024, sea freight accounted for 86% of UK international freight by weight and 54% by value according to the DfT .

The state of port connectivity

In 2018 the Department for Transport (DfT) published a study of England’s port connectivity (PDF) and case studies of nine regional ports (PDF). The DfT defined port connectivity as “the quality of access to and from ports via predominately land-based transport networks.”

It found most (78%) domestic freight movements were made by road and all ports in England were connected to the Strategic Road Network (motorways and major A-roads) or the local road network. In March 2024 the DfT’s national networks policy statement (PDF) said on average an SRN junction is located 0.1 miles away from six of the seven biggest English ports.

As for rail, there is no single published figure on the number of ports with a rail connection. However, Network Rail publishes rail freight maps. According to these, as of February 2022 (the latest available versions of these maps), there were approximately 58 ports in Great Britain with a rail connection. Of these:

• 37 had an “active” (regular rail service in place) or “operational” (infrequent or no rail service at present) connection
• 1 was under development
• 20 had an “inactive” connection

Note that some ports were classified as having more than one rail connection (for example, Felixstowe). These have only been counted once.

The attached spreadsheet contains a list of these ports and the status of their rail connection. Note that some of these may have changed since 2022.

The 2018 study by DfT, recognised that while rail traffic was focused on larger ports, a number of other ports and businesses (which send or receive goods from ports) held ambitions to connect to the rail network.

According to the Northern Ireland Executive and Government of Ireland’s 2024 All-Island Strategic Rail Review, the only port with a rail connection in Northern Ireland is the Port of Larne. However, no freight is currently moved by rail in Northern Ireland.

Port connectivity policy

In 2018 the DfT said in its report on port connectivity: “To recognise the importance of port connectivity, and solidifying the progress made during the Study, a new Maritime Modal Connectivity Team has been created”.

The 2018 review concluded with seven recommendations (below), with recommendations one, three, four, six and seven to be delivered by the DfT Maritime Modal Connectivity Team. However, the team has since been absorbed by other groups within the department.

• Recommendation 1 – Ports cannot operate in isolation / Freight needs to be considered more holistically
• Recommendation 2 – Building an evidence base for freight and ports
• Recommendation 3 – Understanding the potential for waterborne freight (moving freight arriving into ports to other coastal ports by sea or via inland waterways)
• Recommendation 4 – Ensuring ports are consistently part of investment, infrastructure and planning processes
• Recommendation 5 – Enriching port communication – a role for industry
• Recommendation 6 – Enriching port communication – a role for Government
• Recommendation 7 – Informing the long term view – port’s contribution to ‘Maritime 2050’

Maritime 2050 (PDF), was published by DfT in 2019; it covers port connectivity in section 10.5 which concludes with recommendations (on page 237), including a commitment to implementing the recommendations from the 2018 study.

Aside from DfT’s 2018 study, port connectivity policy has been shaped by the National Policy Statement for Ports, which is used to provide the national policy framework against which applications for major port developments are assessed and decided.

More generally, National Policy Statements are produced by the government and guide the development of nationally significant infrastructure in England and Wales.

In June 2025 a consultation began on Proposed amendments to the existing national policy statement for ports. In November 2025 the Transport Committee published its report on the National Policy Statement for Ports.  In section 5 on decarbonising ports the committee recommended that:

“The Government should revise the draft National Policy Statement for Ports to articulate more clearly how ports interface with other freight modes, ensuring that planning authorities actively consider modal shift in their decision-making. This should reflect the strategic role of ports in enabling integrated, low-emission freight networks and support the Government’s wider priorities on modal shift and achieving net zero.”

Section 3.92 of the National Networks National Policy Statement (PDF), published by the Conservative government in March 2024, highlights the potential for rail freight to help make the transportation of goods, to and from ports, more sustainable: the potential for rail freight to help make the transportation of goods, to and from ports, more sustainable:

“It is important that there is a mix of freight options for movement of goods from ports, with safe, direct and efficient freight routes for road-based journeys and with rail freight acting as a key factor in securing sustainable modal shift.”

A parliamentary question (PQ 11363, tabled 18 June 2026) on improving surface access connectivity to major ports in England is awaiting reply.

However, in response to a parliamentary question on freight connectivity between PD Teesport and London Gateway (PQ 82993, 17 October 2025) the government have said that:

“Network Rail have taken steps to increase port connectivity by increasing the number of paths from both Teesport and London Gateway. Collaborative working between Network Rail, DP World and freight operators has led to capacity out of London Gateway more than doubling in the past year, increasing from 10 to 22 available paths.”

Funding for ports and port connectivity

Government investment

In response to a parliamentary question on investment in port infrastructure (PQ 90160, 12 November 2025), Keir Mather, Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation, said that:

“The Government provides targeted support where there are clear public benefits, such as on decarbonisation. In September the Department announced a £448 million extension to the UK SHORE programme, the biggest ever Government investment in commercial maritime across the UK. In addition, my Department is working with the National Wealth Fund, which has committed at least £5.8 billion of its capital to five sectors, including UK ports.”

The National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) also publishes the Infrastructure Pipeline, a ten-year forward look at public and private investment into major UK capital infrastructure, including port projects.

Private investment

The British Ports Association (BPA) website states that £4.5 billion of private capital was invested in projects at UK ports from 2020 to 2025. The BPA website also presents a UK Port Investment Map of the UK.

The Associated British Ports website details the master plan for the Port of Barrow, including plans for investment, carbon emission reduction and expansion.

Forth Ports are investing in Port of Tilbury (London), Grangemouth and Dundee. Details of each project, as well as historic investments, can be found on the Forth Ports website.

Peel Ports Group have extensive investment plans for the Port of Liverpool, including ‘Liverpool2’ a £400 million investment to create a new deep-water container terminal.

Port connectivity

Some of the major enhancements to port connectivity in recent years and planned enhancements include:

• Southampton: In 2021 a £17 million project to lengthen freight railtrack near Southampton was completed. Network Rail said: “Freight services between Southampton, the Midlands and the North can now carry up to 20% more goods thanks to track, signals and sidings improvements”.
• Felixstowe: In 2019 a £60 million project to create a new loop on the Felixstowe branch railway line was completed. According to trade press website Rail Engineer the improvements facilitated “an increase from 33 to 47 freight train paths a day in each direction”.
• Ely area capacity enhancement: Five railway lines converge at Ely in Cambridgeshire including the line which serves the Port of Felixstowe. Network Rail says improvements to the railtrack should double the number of freight trains which can run off-peak through the area.
• Lower Thames Crossing: The Dartford Crossing is the only road which crosses the Thames east of London. National Highways says: “A significant amount of the UK’s port freight travels through the Port of Tilbury and Dover, London Gateway and Medway – which all rely on the Dartford Crossing”. The Lower Thames Crossing intends to almost double road capacity across the Thames east of London.