DB Cargo to make £2.6m investment in Toton
Up to three trains a week to carry British-built cars for export.
DB CARGO UK is to spend £2.6m on new facilities at its depot at Toton in Nottinghamshire for handling the export and import of Toyota cars.
A vehicle storage compound and loading and unloading facilities will be created on a disused section of the site next to the existing paint shop and stores. Subject to planning approval, new services will begin in January 2022, taking hybrid Toyota Corollas, which are manufactured at the Burnaston plant in Derbyshire, to France and the Czech Republic. The return leg of the journey will be used to import Aygo, Yaris and Yaris+ vehicles to the UK.
Lowering emissions
Up to three trains a week are planned from Toton, each with the capacity to transport 230 cars.
“Each train will carry the equivalent load of around 23 road transporters. Our rail solution will not only reduce congestion on the UK’s road network but will also generate significantly less CO2 emissions than if they were taken by road,” said DB Cargo UK chief executive Andrea Rossi.
Toyota Motor Europe’s supply chain vice president Leon van der Merwe added: “By utilising this new rail freight multi modal opportunity, we are helping to ensure our low emission hybrid electric vehicles built at our British Burnaston plant can be transported to our customers in an increasingly sustainable way.”
It is anticipated that emissions will be further reduced with the use of locomotives operating on hydro-treated vegetable oil rather than conventional diesel fuel.