Stourton serves as a dedicated collection and delivery point for containers across Yorkshire, with a minor sub-service to Teesport in Middlesbrough by rail.

[4][note 1] Stourton is also one of only five of the original 1960s batch of terminals still in operation (the others being Garston in Liverpool, Lawley Street in Birmingham, Southampton Millbrook and Trafford Park in Manchester).

[6] Under British Rail in 1994, the prospect of Channel Tunnel traffic, led to BR developing a new intermodal terminal at Wakefield Europort,[7] which in the post-privatisation era has been operated by Freightliner Group competitor DB Cargo UK.

[9] Throughout the 1990s and the 2000s, the typical destinations served by Leeds Stourton have been the ports at Felixstowe, Southampton and Tilbury, with feeder services to Crewe Basford Hall and Wilton, or Teesport terminals on Teesside.

The section south has been mooted in the railway press as an 'infill' electrification project;[14] from Stourton terminal to Hare Park Junction (on the Doncaster to Wakefield Line), is 18 miles (29 km).