Rail freight UK

GB Railfreight (GBRf) are delighted to announce a two-year deal with Hanson for services from Shap Quarry in Cumbria to Tuebrook in Liverpool. GBRf will operate an average of two trains a week, having successfully trialled two services already over the last week. Each train is expected to convey approximately 1,800 tonnes of aggregate material. GBRf and Hanson have developed the terminal from under-utilised rail land at the Merseyside site and today’s announcement marks the start of a new rail service to support Hanson’s aggregate supplies to their Liverpool sites. The deal builds on an incredibly successful partnership between GB Railfreight and Hanson, which already sees the movement of aggregates from Shap to Hanson’s site at Ashton in Makerfield. Today’s announcement is also further proof of the resilience of the rail freight industry which has been going at full steam despite the uncertain economic outlook. John Smith, Managing Director of GB Railfreight, said:

“We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Hanson once again. Having developed this new terminal, we have put the land to good use and will strengthen our deep commercial ties with an additional service. “Given the economic picture remains mixed, it is great that our industry and the wider infrastructure sector continue to show leadership which will stear the country back on track after COVID-19. Today’s announcement is another example of this.”

James Whitelaw, Managing Director of Hanson Aggregate said:

“This is an exciting new venture for us in conjunction with GB Railfreight (GBRf) and is part of our plan to grow our UK network of depots.”