Rail role in ‘gigaplant’ construction

AGGREGATES are being moved by rail for use in the foundations of a £2.6 billion electric vehicle battery factory, which is being built at Blyth in Northumberland.

The development, on the site of Blyth Power Station, is so vast that it is being branded a ‘gigaplant’ and requires the movement of a total of over 315 kilotons of material from the Breedon quarry at Shap in Cumbria to the railhead at Battleship Wharf at North Blyth, adjacent to the factory site.

Operated by GB Railfreight, the trains are being hauled by Class 66 locomotives and consist of 22 MJA wagons. The first ran on July 4.

From September, traffic is expected to increase from one to two trains per day and last until March next year.

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