Category: News

(Photo credit: Richard Gennis)

GB Railfreight and Newell & Wright are pleased to announce the naming of the new Class 66 locomotive at a dedicated naming ceremony held today (9 July) at DP World’s, London Gateway site, in Thurrock.

The new locomotive, called ‘Made in Sheffield’, was unveiled by John Smith, Managing Director of GBRf, and Frank Newell, Managing Director of Newell & Wright. The naming ceremony was also attended by local dignitary Cllr Piccolo, the Mayor of Thurrock.

GBRf ran its first service to the Newell & Wright terminal in Rotherham from the Port of Felixstowe in 2017, with Newell & Wright Transport contracting 50% of the freight capacity. Last year, GBRf added a five days per week service carrying containers for Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Newell & Wright between London Gateway and the Rotherham terminal. The Newell & Wright terminal is now becoming a key strategic hub for end users.

John Smith, Managing Director of GBRf, said:

“We are delighted to unveil our ‘Made in Sheffield’ locomotive, which celebrates the success of our shared services into the Newell & Wright Rotherham terminal. The container market is an important source of growth for the industry and we are proud to be delivering a reliable service that also helps the UK cut carbon emissions and improve air quality.

“‘Made in Sheffield’ signifies the close working relationship we have with Newell & Wright and is an important part of the operations we run across the UK.”

Frank Newell, Managing Director of Newell & Wright, said:

“It is fantastic to have a locomotive named after our Sheffield roots. The service GBRf provides into our terminal in Rotherham offers Yorkshire a reliable, seamless rail service which is an integral part of the supply chain.”

On Wednesday, GB Railfreight (GBRf) and Global building materials supplier CEMEX presented the new CEMEX-liveried locomotive at a dedicated naming ceremony held at Dove Holes Quarry, Buxton.

The new locomotive is called The Cemex Express. The name was unveiled at the event by record producer and rail enthusiast Pete Waterman. Resplendent in the white, blue and red colours of the CEMEX brand, the vehicle recognises the partnership between GBRf and CEMEX, which has now been in place for one year.

The Cemex Express, a Class 66 Locomotive, will travel typically between Dove Holes quarry, carrying premium aggregate for readymix and asphalt plants, and external customers throughout the UK. It will pull 22 to 26 hopper wagons that discharge their loads from underneath directly onto the plant’s conveyors. A single trainload can deliver up to 2,000 tons of material in one trip and will make over 200 trips for CEMEX each year; the equivalent of over 20,000 truckloads.

John Smith, Managing Director of GBRf, said:

“We are delighted to unveil this fantastic Class 66 locomotive, painted in the CEMEX livery and representing our two organisations’ ongoing partnership. This contract is demonstrative of the role rail freight has to play in helping the UK to cut carbon emissions and to improve air quality.

On average, one gallon of fuel will move one tonne of goods 246 miles on the rail network, while the same amount will only get you 88 miles by road. Rail freight’s CO2 emissions are 76 per cent lower than road’s, per tonne carried. An average freight train removes 60 HGV journeys from the roads and the largest up to 160. When this is combined with rail’s advantageous performance in terms of nitrous oxide and particulate matter emissions, rail freight demonstrates a clear contribution to the challenge of meeting the UK’s carbon-cutting targets.”

David Hart, CEMEX’s Supply Chain Director for UK & France, commented:

“The transport of our product by rail is of ever-increasing importance to CEMEX as we look to make our operations as sustainable as possible. Rail is a far more environmentally friendly method of transport than trucks on the road, as a train burns significantly less fuel per ton-mile than road vehicles, saving around 50% in CO2 emissions.

CEMEX UK currently transports 2.6 million tonnes of aggregate by rail each year which equates to approximately 100,000 trucks off the road; enough to build 40,000 houses; and we want to continue to build on this. We are very proud of our partnership with GBRf and hope that together we will be able to transport more and more by rail safely whilst reducing the number of truck movements.”

Lex Russell, Managing Director for UK Materials North at CEMEX, added:

“Dove Holes is one of CEMEX’s most important quarries and generates several million tonnes of limestone aggregates every year, as well as asphalt, readymix, concrete products and dry silo mortar.  By rail we then supply many locations across the UK including key cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham and London. It was therefore the perfect location to unveil the new Cemex Express locomotive and take the opportunity to thank those in our team and at GBRf for their hard work and dedication to our rail partnership.”

GB Railfreight (GBRf) is delighted to announce that in partnership with Network Rail, it has secured a lease for the long-disused March Up Yard rail sidings complex in Cambridgeshire.

The site is just over three acres in size and will accommodate trains of up to 320m in length.  It will operate in conjunction with the Down Yard, south of the main line, which GBRf already works from. The line through March is part of the nationally designated freight route between Felixstowe and Nuneaton, and plays a key role in the haulage of goods and materials around the country.

The site will initially be utilised for the stabling and maintenance of rolling stock used on the traffic between Middleton Towers and Yorkshire, as well as that used to carry aggregates between the Peak District and East Anglia.  As rail traffic to and from Felixstowe continues to grow, the yards will be used for container wagons as well.

As part of the lease, GBRf will refurbish the railway track, putting it into good working condition.  Consideration is also being given to the possible installation of a fuel point. The scheme will incorporate new fencing and acoustic barriers to mitigate the impact of the yard’s re-opening on nearby residents.

John Smith, Managing Director of GBRf, said of the new facility:

“We’re really very pleased to have secured this location.  It will help reduce emissions and save costs in terms of running several hundred empty miles each week in order to get our wagons serviced.  It will also reduce congestion elsewhere along our routes and assist with timetabling flexibility, improving performance overall.  It’s a real bonus for us.”

Guy Bates, Head of Freight Development at Network Rail added:

“The re-opening of March by GBRf to support their growing freight traffic operation is a very satisfying development. Recognising its location on a rail freight corridor of national significance, we took the decision to include this site in our 2014 freight estate acquisition portfolio in the clear anticipation that it would have future utility. 

Successive Governments have shared an ambition to grow freight on rail substantially and our facilitating of this type of market led development of our freight estate is critical to realising that growth.”

GB Railfreight (GBRf) are today delighted to announce the start of a new service from the Port of Felixstowe to iPort Rail in Doncaster, marking the company’s continued expansion into the Intermodal market.

The service will run 5 days a week, and represents GBRf’s 16th intermodal service to date, following rapid expansion into the market over the past 18 months. The service is demonstrative of the highly valued relationships GBRf maintains with its partners. GBRf trains now carry one third of all containerised rail traffic to and from the Port of Felixstowe.

As the latest GBRf service into iPort Rail, it also strengthens a newer relationship which began when GBRf had the honour of being the first commercial service to arrive at the newly opened facility back in September 2018. GBRf are incredibly proud that all freight services currently using the facility are provided by GBRf.

The new service will enable increased diversity in GBRf’s Yorkshire operations, providing customers with more logistical options in the wider Yorkshire area are further afield than ever before.

John Smith, Managing Director of GB Railfreight, said:

“I am thrilled to see the beginning of this new service. It is fantastic to be working once again with valued friends and partners. Our growth in intermodal speaks to GBRf’s commitment to innovation, offering flexible and innovative door-to-door solutions that meet our customer’s needs, as well as a consistently reliable service. This is why customers work with us again and again, GBRf are the industry’s trusted intermodal carrier.”

Steve Freeman, Managing Director of iPort Rail, said:

“This new Felixstowe service highlights the growth iPort Rail is experiencing since welcoming its first commercial service late last year, and the increasing significance of our facility to national and international supply chains.”

“Being part of Verdion’s iPort multimodal logistics hub means that 87 per cent of the UK population is within a four-hour drive of our terminal, with easy access to the national motorway network and sea transport links as well as rail freight routes increase.

“The terminal already handles several hundred tonnes of goods daily, and we are excited that our expansion story is set to benefit businesses across the country even further.”

Commenting on the new destination, Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer at the Port of Felixstowe and Executive Director of Hutchison Ports, said:

“More and more companies are looking for sustainable transport options and ways to avoid an increasingly crowded road network. The Port of Felixstowe is uniquely placed to meet those demands and already offers a wide range of intermodal rail freight services to key UK destinations.

“With nearly 1.5 million TEU moving between Felixstowe and locations in the Northern Powerhouse region each year, Felixstowe is already the North’s major gateway for global trade. This new connection provides businesses in this vital region with greater choice of ways to get their goods to market.”

GB Railfreight (GBRf) are delighted to announce that final contracts have been signed with Network Rail for the new Control Period 6 (CP6). In what has been a hugely successful process for GBRf, CP6 will see a 25 per cent growth in the company’s market share with their single largest customer, Network Rail.

The new Control Period will see GBRf continue to run their hugely successful Whitemoor Local Distribution Centre (LDC), one of the best performing LDCs in the country, along with two new sites in Bescot and Eastleigh. These new additions to GBRf’s portfolio will bring with them great opportunities for upskilling current GBRf staff, as well as increased recruitment to support the running of the new depots.

GBRf are also thrilled to have been awarded increased bulk and network services, which will ensure the future modernisation of the railways. GBRf have won 44 per cent of bulk services, which will see them move ballast around the country. Whilst in another major win, GBRf have been awarded 53 per cent of network services, which position fleet around the country in order to carry out railway modernisation. GBRf will operate 16 trains on a daily basis, representing the largest area of growth within this tender.

GBRf will continue to support infrastructure improvements and enhancements across the network with Network Rail possession trains. GBRf have been awarded annual possession hours, along with an enlarged geographical spread. This will open up increased opportunity in areas GBRf has historically had a lesser presence in. One such example is the West of England, where the contract will bring with it yet more opportunities and upskilling of staff, as well as ensuring strong GBRf coverage across the whole of the UK.

Finally, Network Rail has also awarded seasonal services to deal with weather related issues such as leaf fall contamination in Autumn, and snow and ice treatment in Winter. These services are critical to keeping the country moving and passenger trains operating safely during adverse weather conditions. GBRf have strengthened their market position in this area by their fantastic work and high performance in CP5.

GBRf is enthusiastically moving into CP6, which runs through to March 2024. The opportunities it will afford to GBRf, and the role it will enable the company to play in ensuring the future prosperity of the UK rail network, is very exciting.

Mark Wyborn, General Manager at GB Railfreight, stated

“This is great news for GBRf, securing a long-term commitment with Network Rail for the next five years is key, as is the growth we have seen by operating more yards (LDC’s) and more haulage trains than we did in the last Control Period.

The growth and commitment from Network Rail is testament to our performance and reputation that we have built on over the last 5 years. This is another huge step within the infrastructure portfolio for GBRf as we continue to look for more diverse opportunities.”

Rob Morton, Director of Supply Chain Operations, Network Rail, added

“These contracts demonstrate the commercially creative approach Network Rail’s supply chain now adopts. We have applied a more collaborative and forward-thinking style to our sourcing than previously, which aligns not only our goals, but those of our supply partners.

The new contracts provide us with sufficient flexibility to direct our spend to those suppliers who deliver the best service. We have also ensured the deals have appropriate mutual benefit to maximise their longevity and chance of delivering successfully.”