Rail freight

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...

Council ends legal challenge on Radlett freight interchange

06 July 2015St Alban’s City & District Council has decided not to take forward its appeal in its lengthy dispute over the proposed strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI) at Radlett.  Last week the local authority was refused permission to a...

The ORR's new highway role: An opportunity not a distraction

01 July 2015Anna Walker, chair of the Office of Rail and Road, explains the opportunities its new role to monitor Highways England will bring. As RTM went to press the newly named Office of Rail and Road (ORR) was closing a consultation on the proposed monit...

New government is committed to rail freight

01 July 2015Clare Moriarty, director general of the Rail Executive at the Department for Transport, discusses the role that freight can play in supporting economic growth in CP5. The new Conservative-led government says its priority for this next Parliament...

Start of a long 'psychological evolution' in EU railway interoperability

01 July 2015Richard Lockett, head of the cross acceptance unit at the European Railway Agency, discusses the challenge of interoperability. The fourth railway package is a set of aims to remove the remaining barriers to the creation of a single European rail...

Delivering high levels of freight network performance

01 July 2015Paul McMahon (pictured, centre), director of freight at Network Rail, discusses the success of Britain’s rail freight sector and what Network Rail is doing to support this. Rail freight is vital for the British economy. The Rail Delivery Gr...

Council refused permission to appeal Radlett freight decision

30 June 2015The Court of Appeal has refused to give St Albans City & District Council permission to appeal the dismissal of its recent court challenge against the proposal for a strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI) at Radlett.       &n...

New £18m railhead approved for West Midlands freight company

26 June 2015A new £18m railhead has been given the go-ahead connecting a freight firm to the Chase Line in the West Midlands. Freight company Pentalver are to create a new road-rail interchange facility. The project includes new railway sidings, a...

DB Schenker to cut more than 200 rail freight jobs in England

22 June 2015DB Schenker is to cut 234 rail freight jobs due to the decline in demand for coal. The company, whose UK headquarters are in Doncaster, said the losses would mostly be felt in the north of England as the coal demand had declined much faster than...

Ministers want freight on passenger rail to expand

16 June 2015Rail freight growth could be achieved through expanding schemes to carry goods on underused passenger services, the government has suggested. In a speech to the Rail Engineers Forum Technical Seminar at the Institute of Civil Engineers, the rail...