It was built in 1995 as part of a 26 acres (11 ha) development site originally known as Direct for Europe Doncaster.
[4] The site was promoted by Neil Worthington (Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council) and backed by Mabon, subsidiary of Dutch company Hollandsche Beton Groep, and Kyle Stewart Properties.
[6] In 1994 construction began on the £5 million Direct for Europe project; the terminal was one of several built to serve expected international freight trains resulting from the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994.
[7][note 2] The 8.2 acres (3.3 ha) railport was opened in December 1995 by The Princess Royal; it was equipped with two reception sidings and four terminal sidings and capable of handling train lengths of 750 metres (2,460 ft); and was built with car handling and storage facilities.
[4][9] In the late 1990s the site was handling about 12,500 containers per year, including a plastic polymer flow from ICI Wilton (Teesside) to the DuPont fibre plant in Doncaster, and intermodal traffic via seaports, but with little Channel tunnel trade.