00.00 hours Friday 30^th October marked the arrival in Britain though Eurotunnel of the first fully refrigerated train service from Spain. After a 1,100 mile journey from Valencia the new Stobart Rail train weekly service provides the first low carbon alternative for both retailers and consumer for the import of Spanish fruit and veg.

This pioneering rail service from Valencia to the Ford Dagenham railhead is the longest train journey in Europe by a single operator.  It will take many lorries off the road totaling a reduction of 13.7 million kilometres of road journeys, which in turn leads to a reduction of 8,625 tonnes of CO2 per year.

i-nfluence advised Stobart on the communications strategy, recorded the event and created video and photographic assets which were then supplied to the news media.  Influence also arranged multiple National news channel interviews.  The net result was extensive media coverage including a whole hour on Sky News during the day, and pages of coverage in newspapers and on-line.  

The Stobart Group, which is perhaps best known for its iconic Eddie Stobart truck fleet, complete with its own spotters and supporters club, is rapidly becoming the UK's leading provider of multimodal logistics solutions with integrated road, rail, sea and air businesses. This ground breaking new rail service builds on recent announcements by Stobart Group, which have seen innovations in modal shift in the UK from road to rail and numerous schemes to reduce waste and emissions in all aspects of the supply chain.