A tale of two ‘C’s: construction and containers

Paul Shannon explains how large construction projects, including HS2, and unabated demand for containerised goods were key drivers of the freight sector over the year. All text/images by the author.

RAIL freight fared rather better than the passenger sector in 2021. After the initial lockdown dip back in April 2020, volumes recovered well and the tonnages moved between January and September 2021 were more or less up to pre-pandemic levels. Indeed, the official figures for freight moved in July-September 2021 showed an overall increase of 0.7% compared with two years earlier.

Not only were volumes healthy, but also freight train punctuality remained higher than it had been before the pandemic, due in large part to the reduction in passenger train frequency on some key routes. It was still common for freight trains to run ahead of schedule because they were looped less often for the benefit of faster passenger workings.

Rail freight’s green credentials were temporarily dented in October when a sudden rise in electricity prices prompted the standing down of almost all the sector’s electric traction. All Freightliner workings south of Crewe switched to Class 66 haulage, as did DB’s only Class 90-hauled train between Mossend and Daventry. DRS reverted to using Class 68s on most of its Anglo-Scottish trains and its Class 88s (currently the UK’s only bi-mode locos) operated in diesel mode. Thankfully the crisis was short-lived and by December things were back to normal – although even ‘normal’ still means a lot of diesel running under the wires.

The construction business – essentially stone, sand, cement and minerals – was the strongest rail freight performer in 2021. The tonnages moved reached their highest ever levels in the three months from April to June. The torrid times of the first lockdown in 2020 were not repeated, as the construction industry rebounded and leant ever more heavily on rail. On some routes the railway struggled to satisfy demand, given the finite supply of rolling stock and crew.

Construction related to HS2 accounted for a lot of new aggregates and spoil traffic. In the

West Midlands, the volumes of stone handled at

Small Heath grew during the year, with three trains operating on certain days. The stone came from all three rail-connected Peak District quarries – Dowlow, Tunstead and Peak Forest – and was hauled by GBRf Class 66s, with smaller quantities in the hands of Freightliner. In the autumn, Cemex installed 330 metres of new track at Small Heath to make the operation more efficient.

Hams Hall became an additional discharge point for HS2 traffic when the first GBRf-hauled train from Dowlow arrived there in August. The stone was offloaded from the southernmost siding in the existing intermodal terminal. In similar vein, a trial stone working to Lawley Street Freightliner terminal ran in December.

The HS2 siding on the down side at Washwood Heath was no longer in use because the site was itself swallowed up by HS2 works. However, in February Tarmac opened its huge asphalt and concrete plant on the site of the former up yard. This facility received up to five trains a week for much of the year, with GBRf delivering stone from Tunstead and DB Cargo from Mountsorrel and Moreton-on-Lugg.

In Buckinghamshire, the long-standing operations at Calvert saw several changes during the year. Household waste trains from Cricklewood ceased in March and spoil trains from the London area finished in July. Meanwhile stone from Tytherington was delivered to Calvert for HS2 work, reaching three trains a day in the summer. However, this flow ceased in October and the line to Calvert was then severed just north of Quainton Road to allow the building of the new high speed line.

After Calvert was decommissioned, the DBChauled stone trains from Tytherington ran instead to Appleford, using the sidings that also handled spoil from the London area, stone from Whatley and containerised flyash from Drax. The DBC stone trains were separate from the main Mendip Rail contract which remained in the hands of Freightliner ‘59s’ and

‘66s’ – and which achieved a new record in March when Freightliner carried 796,000 tonnes from the Mendips.

HS2 spoil from the London area provided a new lease of life for the grandly named Willesden logistics hub. This site was formerly Willesden Freightliner terminal and later became Railfreight Distribution’s Willesden Euroterminal, but the last container trains were handled there in 2006. The first HS2 spoil train left Willesden on June 28 and the terminal was officially opened on September 14. So far, GBRf has carried the spoil to Barrington, but trains are also expected to run from Willesden to Cliffe and Rugby, with a return flow of concrete tunnel segment rings.

JUMBO STONE TRAINS

Stone traffic from the Peak District thrived throughout 2021. Freightliner ran its first Tunstead-Paddington train in January and began running two-portion jumbo trains to the London area similar to those operating out of Merehead and Whatley. The first Tunstead jumbo train ran on March 16 and conveyed portions for Stewarts Lane and Park Royal. DC Rail returned to the Peak District in May with a series of usually Class 60-hauled Peak Forest-Brandon trains.

In Wales, the long-abandoned sidings at Penmaenmawr came back into use on December 21 when GBRf loaded a train with stone chippings for Tuebrook. Further south, Machen handled intermittent traffic both from the adjacent quarry and delivered by road from Craig-yr-Hesg near Pontypridd. The freightonly branch from Park Junction to Machen became busier between July and September, with rock armour trains for flood defence work on the Marches line.

The little-used Portbury branch returned to freight use from January until September for a series of trains carrying stone to Acton. The stone was quarried at Glensanda on the west coast of Scotland and moved to Portbury by coastal shipping. In

March, the decommissioned Bristol West Freightliner terminal found a new use as a stone loading point for Stancombe quarry near Flax Bourton. This traffic had previously been loaded at Bristol East. Starting in April DCR also ran a weekly trainload of stone from Bristol West to Willesden.

A new stone terminal for Liverpool was created in March at Tuebrook sidings, already used as a staging point for GBRf biomass trains to Drax and stone to Ashton-in-Makerfield. Often enjoying Class 60 haulage, the Tuebrook traffic would use the overnight path from Harrisons Sidings, Shap, that was established for the Ashton-in-Makerfield trains.

In Scotland, Mossend freight terminal was used by occasional incoming trainloads of limestone from Arcow quarry and outgoing stone from Cairneyhill quarry to Leeds Hunslet. Meanwhile, the long disused sidings at Ravenstruther near Carstairs were refettled as a loading point for railway ballast from Cloburn quarry. A Colas Rail ‘56’ hauled the first loaded train from Ravenstruther to Carlisle on December 3.

SPOIL, CEMENT AND PETROLEUM

Various flows of spoil and industrial waste ran during the year, both short-term and long-term. Trains ran from Bow to Burton-on-Trent from June, hauled initially by GBRf and later by DCR. The new Renwick Road terminal near Barking came into use in May, dispatching GBRf-hauled spoil trains to Roxby. Barking Eurohub became yet another bulk loading point for East London, with DBC trains carrying spoil to Tinsley and scrap metal to Immingham.

The spent ballast terminal at Longport in the Potteries was busy in 2021. The established flow from Crewe Basford Hall was joined by trains from Sandiacre in October and November, from Carlisle in November and from Tyne Yard in December. Most of these had a Colas ‘56’ at the helm. A similar facility was set up at Chessington South for use by DCR, with an initial test train running on December 10.

Cement traffic saw some changes during the year, including a few trains from Tunstead to Viewpark near Glasgow while output at Oxwellmains was reduced. Hopes were raised of a possible revival at Weaste, but in the event only a single train ran to the terminal, on February 15/16.

As for industrial minerals, DBC took over the salt and polyhalite traffic from Boulby from Freightliner in May. DCR restarted the sand trains from Middleton Towers to St Helens in May, some 14 months after

DBC had lost the flow. The GBRf sand traffic from Middleton Towers to Goole restarted in November after a gap of seven months. Gypsum trains from

Drax to Newbiggin ceased in March, while a trial load of imported gypsum ran from Hull Docks to Tunstead in December.

In the petroleum sector, GBRf took over haulage of the Grain-Colnbrook aviation fuel trains in April, running at a much reduced frequency compared with pre-pandemic times. GBRf also operated two special trainloads of aviation fuel from Grain to Prestwick in October and November, both hauled by No. 66793. They catered for the additional flights conveying COP26 delegates to and from Scotland.

LONGER INTERMODALS

Intermodal retained the top spot in the hierarchy of rail freight carryings in 2021, having recovered quickly from the sharp dip at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Nevertheless, the well documented logjams at major ports such as Felixstowe led to some lightly loaded trains. To some extent the railway was able to divert resources and run trains at short notice from other ports such as Liverpool and Tyne.

Running longer trains is increasingly important if rail is to retain and increase its market share. The port of Southampton, the country's second biggest for deep-sea traffic, benefited in February from a £17 million scheme to increase train lengths at Freightliner's Maritime terminal from 520m to 775m. The work included additional sidings, upgraded track and new signalling in the Redbridge area. This enabled trains to carry between 12 and 14 extra containers, potentially improving profitability. At the same time, train lengths on DBC and GBRf services to Southampton Western Docks increased to 750m.

Another lengthening scheme enabled the Port of Grangemouth to handle 775m trains. Elsewhere in Scotland, the intermodal picture was mixed. GBRf continued the twice-weekly train from Doncaster to Elderslie that it had launched in late 2020, and also ran a number of intermodal trains between Doncaster and Mossend. DRS launched a nightly train between the new Tilbury 2 terminal and Coatbridge in December, dovetailing with one of its Tilbury-Daventry trains which was diverted to Tilbury 2. These trains made use of Class 88 flexibility, running mainly on electric power, but using diesel for the non-electrified stretch at Tilbury.

On the other hand, a trial movement with one box to Georgemas Junction in April did little to instil confidence in setting up a regular service on the Far North line. The long-awaited terminal for Highland Spring at Blackford was still trackless at the end of the year. And even the well established intermodal train to Aberdeen stopped running in December, although this was believed to be a temporary hiatus.

EYES ON iPORT AND IMMINGHAM

In South Yorkshire, Tinsley was added to the regular intermodal network, joining the existing facilities at Rotherham, Doncaster Railport and Doncaster iPort. Regular trains began in May and by the autumn Tinsley was handling three services each weekday to and from Felixstowe – two hauled by GBRf and one by Freightliner.

The long under-utilised railhead at Seaforth on Merseyside saw a welcome increase in traffic as a result of diverted deep-sea container ships. Freightliner services from Seaforth to both

Birmingham Lawley Street and Hams Hall began running in October, adding up to several extra trains a week. And the Port of Tyne became a temporary intermodal railhead, dispatching nine trains to Doncaster and three to Hams Hall during October and early November.

Immingham became the focus of an intermodal trial in November, with Victa Railfreight sponsoring a series of trains to and from Doncaster iPort using

IXA wagons and a Colas Rail ‘56'. Despite claims of a first for the port, Immingham had handled intermodal traffic before, both for Freightliner and EWS, but volumes had never held up enough to justify a long-term service.

Finally, there was much talk in 2021 of parcel trains returning to the network. The problem appeared to be finding customers. Nevertheless, Orion managed to run a series of trial trains in November and December shadowing the Royal Mail services between Shieldmuir, Warrington and Willesden. These trains comprised converted Class 319 units hauled by a Rail Operations Group Class 57.

Ð Freightliner lost the Boulby contract to DB Cargo in May. No. 66532 flanks the clifftop near Brotton with the 6F32 09.33 Tees Dock-Boulby empties on April 22.

Passing the still trackless Highland Spring terminal at Blackford on June 2 is Colas loco No. 70813 with 6M86, the 14.05 Aberdeen Waterloo-Workington calcium carbonate train. The tanks on this occasion would be dropped off at Irvine and the loco would continue light to Workington.

Sand traffic returned to Ravenhead Sidings at St Helens in May, with DC Rail normally providing the traction. However, on June 7 the company used a hire-in from Colas Rail because it didn’t have enough serviceable locos of its own. No. 56049 passes St Helens Central with 4Z14, the 09.00 empties from Ravenhead to Chaddesden.

The Machen branch saw rather more use in 2021 than in some years. No. 66522 passes the rather fine lower quadrant semaphores at Park Junction with the 6C80 13.20 Machen-Appleford train, on June 16.

No. 66777 threads its way through Pill on the Portbury branch with 6B59, the 11.32 empty hoppers from Acton, on June 15.

No. 66726 draws its hoppers slowly through the new Tarmac discharge terminal at Washwood Heath on June 23, having arrived earlier as 6G93, the 21.47 departure from Tunstead. On the adjacent track, failed classmate No. 66706 awaits collection.

No. 66301 passes Carnoustie with a rather poorly loaded 4A13, 12.22 Grangemouth-Aberdeen intermodal train, on June 30. This working was suspended in December, leaving just cement and calcium carbonate traffic at Aberdeen.

Pairs of Class 90s became well established on the West Coast main line, although a rise in electricity costs forced many trains to revert to diesel power for a time in the autumn. Nos. 90015 and 90013 pass Wandel, north of Crawford, with the 4M11 18.14 Coatbridge-Felixstowe train, on June 30.

Orion’s converted Class 319 stock for possible parcels traffic finally made regular outings on the main line in November, albeit hauled by diesel traction. No. 57312 heads south at Daresbury, south of Warrington, with 3Q41, the 05.34 from Shieldmuir to Willesden, on November 25. The units are Nos. 768001 and 319373.

The single track between Ely and Soham (see also Passenger Review p86 and First Impressions p12) remained a pinch point for cross-country intermodal trains to and from Felixstowe. DB Cargo loco No. 66148 heads east from Ely with 4L38, the 10.57 from East Midlands Gateway to Felixstowe Central, on July 16.

Spoil and stone to Calvert kept the line north of Aylesbury busy until it was closed to make way for HS2 construction in October. No. 60028 passes Aylesbury depot with 6Z74, the 16.30 Calvert-Willesden empties, on September 13.

GBRf Class 60 No. 60087 reverses its train of 23 JNA wagons under the loader at Penmaenmawr on December 20, having arrived with 6D60, the 07.08 departure from Tuebrook.