Rail freight

Four major freight operators awarded five-year Tarmac deals

14 January 2016British building materials company Tarmac has awarded four major companies to deliver rail freight services around its new hubs and rail supply routes. Colas Rail, GB Railfreight, Freightliner and DB Schenker have all bagged five-year contracts t...

East Midlands freight interchange gets green light

14 January 2016The East Midlands Gateway Rail Freight Interchange, planned for a site north of East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, has been granted development consent by transport minister Robert Goodwill MP. The strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI)...

Shaw Review must not throw freight baby out with Network Rail bath water

03 December 2015Philippa Edmunds, manager of Freight on Rail and a member of the Campaign for Better Transport, says a continued centralised ‘system operation’ function within Network Rail is crucial for the freight sector.

Amount of rail freight lifted in Q2 slips 18.4%

27 November 2015There was an 18.4% decrease in the amount of freight lifted on the rail network in Q2 of 2015-16, compared to the same quarter last year, according to new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).  The regulator said the decrease was l...

Freight derailments: a complex and cross-industry system risk

01 November 2015David Stevenson talks to the organisations responsible for managing the UK’s freight derailment risk, to find out what is being done. He spoke to the ORR’s chief inspector, Ian Prosser, and deputy chief inspector, David Keay; acting ch...

VTG Rail and Mendip Rail sign 130 freight aggregate wagons deal

23 October 2015Wagon hire and rail logistics firm VTG Rail UK has signed an agreement with independent freight operator Mendip Rail to hire out 130 new aggregate wagons. A mixture of hoppers and boxes, they will be used to move stone from the Aggregate Industri...

Scotland pledges to bring down the barriers to rail freight growth

22 October 2015The Scottish transport minister has called on businesses across the country and the UK to support Scotland’s government in expanding its rail freight sector. As he launched the Scottish Government’s consultation document, ‘Deliv...

Three revamped locos sent into service following 10-year Network Rail lease

25 September 2015The first three of a new freight fleet of refurbished 73/9s have entered service following a 10-year lease agreement between GB Railfreight and Network Rail. The new fleet will be used for infrastructure monitoring (hauling trains that monitor th...

Network Rail halts Ely to Soham freight line plans

16 September 2015Network Rail has shelved plans to double a section of track between Ely and Soham until sufficient funding can be identified. The plans are part of the Felixstowe and Nuneaton freight capacity enhancement scheme called F2N. Designers and enginee...

GBRf runs first waste train from new North London Railfreight Terminal

11 September 2015GB Railfreight (GBRf) has run its first train transporting waste from its new North London Railfreight Terminal in Cricklewood this week. The new three-year contract is for one train a day (Monday to Friday) in partnership with FCC Environment, w...

Freight demand grows by 80 weekly trains

09 September 2015Britain is filling 80 more freight trains per week compared to this time last year as a result of a steadily increasing demand in the last decade, Network Rail research shows. There has been a 75% uplift in the volume of consumer goods travelling...

Transport for the North to deliver freight strategy

25 August 2015Transport for the North (TfN) is to create the UK’s first pan-regional freight and logistics strategy, designed to create an integrated transport sector for the region while driving growth and jobs. Mott MacDonald and MDS Transmodal have be...

Give rail freight a fair deal

01 August 2015Philippa Edmunds, manager of Freight on Rail and a member of the Campaign for Better Transport, says the road haulage industry is propped up by a mass of hidden subsidies, in turn affecting the competitiveness of rail freight.In order for the econ...

NR starts work to reinstate rail link to Arcow and Dry Rigg quarries

10 July 2015Network Rail is starting work to reinstate a rail link to two quarries near Horton in Ribblesdale with the Settle to Carlisle railway line, a move which will help remove up to 16,000 lorry journeys from the local road network. Lafarge Tarmac, whi...

RAIB investigates freight train derailment near Angerstein Wharf

10 July 2015An investigation has been launched by the RAIB after a freight train, comprising 22 empty JGA wagons hauled by a class 66 locomotive, derailed at a ‘low speed’ on a curved section of track near Angerstein Wharf last month.  The d...