Freight
GB RAILFREIGHT has recently extended two important contracts with major customers in the steel and construction industries.
A new 12-year deal has been signed with Celsa Steel UK in South Wales to provide internal shunting services, remotely controlled Class 08 shunting locomotives, train crews, wagon and track maintenance until 2033. A dedicated team of crews is also now provided to manage internal rail movements and ensure continuity.
GBRf has been working with Celsa since 2011 but as part of the new contract it will take responsibility for all internal rail movements, including inbound scrap metal, hot billets for processing, and outbound movements of finished products.
Formerly known as Cardiff Rod Mill, Celsa’s Cardiff plant is the UK’s largest producer of steel reinforcing and a major supplier long steel products.
GBRf has also won a new twoyear contract from construction materials company Hanson to haul stone from Shap Quarry to Tuebrook in Liverpool.
Following a successful trial in March, an average of two 1,800 tonne trains per week are now running to a newly-developed terminal on previously underutilised railway land near
Edge Hill. The deal builds on the existing contract for the movement of aggregates from Shap to Hanson’s site at Ashtonin-Makerfield near Wigan.
Intermodal business also continues to grow for GBRf, with its 21st route added in early March. A new pair of trains for Maritime Transport now links Felixstowe with Wakefield Europort. Running five days a week, the train marks GBRf’s debut at the Yorkshire facility, and has taken over the path of a train that previously served Doncaster Railport.
The northbound 4E21 11.20 Felixstowe-Wakefield and 4L21 22.02 Wakefield-Felixstowe return is formed of a mixed rake of platform wagons, including two ‘Eco Triples’, two ‘Q8s’ and 11 IKA twin flats, offering the flexibility to carry a wide range of containers and make the best use of train capacity. The 4E13/4L13 Felixstowe-Doncaster Railport train pair now runs in a later path, departing Felixstowe at 12.04 and returning at 23.35.