Heritage movement looks to Russia for steam coal

WITH THE end in sight for UK coal in early 2022 due to the government’s policy on coal mines, Britain’s railways are preparing to set up their own supply chain from a foreign port to individual railways. Although coal will be imported from Australia, Columbia and Russia for the steel and concrete industries, it is like ‘dust’ at 0.25mm size. Heritage steam requires high quality 50-125mm bituminous coal.

Overall, the UK uses 8m tonnes of coal a year (excluding electricity generation). Steam railways use 26,000 tonnes of coal every year and a bulk carrier ship holds around 75,000 tonnes. This means that the upfront costs will be very high, requiring a £1m cashflow for a minimum order of 10,000 tonnes. Accepting that the battle for continued domestic coal supplies has been lost, the Heritage Railway Association says that when Ffos-yfran opencast mine in South Wales closes in early 2022, Russia will be the most likely source.

Securing supplies will be subject to the world market. Global demand has increased substantially due to China banning Australian steam coal in a political dispute and now buying all the available Russian coal.

Steam is the prime attraction, so Britain’s railways need coal. GWR 4-6-0 6023 King Edward II departs from Kingswear, Dartmouth Steam Railway, on July 13, 2018. (Bernard Mills)