134 February 2019 NEWSHelping ensure a sustainable future for UK rail freight www.rfg.org.uk INSIDE: Williams Rail Review Special Starts on page 14. DB Cargo and Maritime P.3 team up in new venture Debbie Francis named leading rail Maritime Intermodal launched to enhance role model rail freight services out of southern ports DB Cargo and Maritime Transport have Cargo UK’s terminals in Trafford Park, agreed a long-term deal to operate a new Manchester and Wakefield in West York- division together. ‘Maritime Intermod- shire, strengthening Maritime Transport’s al’ will initially contract four dedicated UK coverage. They added that Maritime In- services out of Felixstowe and South- termodal would be committed to significant ampton. investment in both equipment and ground- works at the two sites, improving terminal Both sides said the move would enable them turnaround times while increasing container to best use their individual strengths, driving storage capacities. P.8 up service quality and allowing for greater Welcoming the RFG’s efficiency savings. Ultimately, this would The terminals will remain open-access to Sponsor Partners for result in increased intermodal capacity and both intermodal and non-intermodal servic- 2019 a growth in rail freight. es. Maritime Intermodal will retain existing services and seek additional services from Under the terms of the agreement, DB all UK ports with all freight operating com- Cargo UK will be contracted to run Maritime panies Intermodal’s rail operations out of Felix- Continued on page 2. stowe and Southampton. Maritime Inter- modal will take on responsibility for DB GBRf launches new Birch Coppice P.10 service from Port of Felixstowe Freightliner and Article on page 3. Mendip sign new deal P.14 Answering the big questions of the Williams Rail Review RFG News Feb 2019 Executive Director’s Update: Maggie Simpson email your comments to [email protected] Williams for Evidence, which was submitted during January. With Keith Williams set to outline the early conclusions of Rail Review his work during the Spring, it is now more important than ever that rail freight makes its voice heard, and so it is great to see so much good news from the market covered in this Special Issue edition of the News. Nothing makes the case for rail freight By Maggie Simpson, Director General, more clearly than the growth in demand from our custom- Rail Freight Group (RFG) ers, and the investment that is made to support this, on the network and in equipment and terminals. So please keep the good news coming! Our RFG Party for members and friends in early Can I also draw everyone’s attention to our Annual Scot- February was a great start to our event season, and it tish Conference (see bottom of page 3). There are still was good to see so many people there enjoying a drink places available and I would encourage everyone inter- and some food. Although the weather was, of course, ested in the Scottish rail freight sector to attend if pos- dismal, the atmosphere was buzzing and there was sible. The conference will examine recent rail freight great positivity about the year ahead for the rail freight developments in Scotland, including the key challenges sector, despite the obvious uncertainty over Brexit. and opportunities. We will consider how rail freight can help the Scottish Government meet its economic and en- The party was also an opportunity to launch our Sponsor vironmental targets (including climate change). We will Partners for 2019. RFG is funded entirely by its members, discuss the delivery of the Growth Plan and how barriers and our Sponsor Partners support our events programme such as loading gauge will be tackled. over the year, allowing us to invest a little more in our work and campaigning. A huge thanks goes to all 15 companies, We have some excellent confirmed speakers including: and you can see more information on page 8. Chris Swan from Tarmac, discussing the success story of rail freight growth in the construction market; Bill Reeve The hot topic for discussion that night was of course the of Transport Scotland; John McGuigan outlining the Williams Review of the structure of the UK railways. This potential for rail freight growth at Aberdeen Harbour; and is a matter that has the potential to affect us all and could Andy Saunders of Network Rail who will set out how it have positive or negative consequences for our industry, plans to grow freight during Control Period 6 (CP6). depending on what the recommendations are. It is also quite complex, with multiple factors to be considered, if the Download a booking form here. outcomes are to be beneficial to both freight and passen- ger users of the network. The venue is the beautiful MacDonald Marine Hotel, which is situated only half a mile from the railway station (which This edition of RFG News therefore comes complete with is under 35 minutes by train from Edinburgh Waverley – a special section on the Williams Review, which includes hourly service). I hope to see many of you there and look articles from a range of authors and a range of viewpoints. forward to welcoming you on the day to a great event. • These articles are thought pieces, which look at different angles including the legal framework for track access, time- table planning, costs and incentives and governance. We have also included a summary of our response to the Call Continued from front page. centres. It’s a real win-win and we look forward to working with Maritime going forward.” with the intention of increasing its intermodal offering. Mar- itime Intermodal will take responsibility for DB Cargo UK’s John Williams, Executive Chairman of Maritime Group, said: existing intermodal customers on its Felixstowe and South- “We are delighted to announce the launch of Maritime In- ampton services, while DB Cargo UK will retain and grow termodal, a new division of our business created with the its remaining intermodal business including key flows to and intention of offering increased resource to our customers in from Scotland. an increasingly difficult market place. Hans-Georg Werner, CEO of DB Cargo UK, said: “This is “In addition, over the four services alone, more than 32 mil- an exciting new agreement that brings together two of the lion miles will be taken off the UK road network each year, largest and most successful freight companies in the UK to reducing both congestion and carbon dioxide emissions. offer an industry-leading service to customers. It will enable This further enhances our creativity in developing intermodal DB Cargo UK to focus on what it does best – the efficient and solutions for our customers,” he added. reliable running of rail freight services, while giving Maritime the platform to offer its customers further capacity to move • SEGRO has signed a 25-year lease with Maritime Trans- its container traffic. port to operate the SRFI at SEGRO Logistics Park East Mid- lands Gateway and will base their rail headquarters at the He added: “Intermodal is the fastest growing freight market, site. The 22.5 acre rail terminal will be capable of handling yet our terminals were under-utilised. Maritime is a very suc- up to sixteen 775m-long freight trains daily and will provide cessful logistics business and has the volumes and desire to storage capacity for over 5,000 TEU. turn these assets into sustainable and profitable distribution 2 RFG News Feb 2019 GBRf launches new Birch Coppice News in brief: service from Felixstowe • Eddie Stobart Logis- GB Railfreight (GBRf) has launched a new John Smith, MD of GBRf, added: “We’re thrilled tics has launched a new intermodal service between the Port of to be putting on this new service. It is demon- rail service from the Port Felixstowe and the Birch Coppice terminal strative of the wider sea change we are seeing of Tilbury to Daventry, with in the Midlands. in the rail freight industry, as the UK moves from a forecast capacity of 200 its industrial roots to become a service and con- containers a week. The The first train on the service left Birch Cop- sumer- led economy. This is reflected in the fact move is part of its ongo- pice at 14.14 on 23 January and arrived at that intermodal traffic now accounts for around ing strategy to provide Felixstowe at 20.14, having passed through 36% of rail freight industry wide. exceptional flexibility and Hams Hall, Leicester, Peterborough and resilience for customer Ipswich. Made up of 33 platforms, the service “The route is also practical, with this new Mid- supply chains. Within a transports a mixture of intermodal containers, lands service meaning Birch Coppice can matter of weeks the Til- and will initially run five days each week. accommodate business that was going to Hams bury to Daventry route will Hall, allowing our client Wincanton additional have expanded to run dai- Clemence Cheng, Port of Felixstowe CEO and space for its logistics operation that is centred ly Monday to Friday, and Executive Director of Hutchison Ports, said: around the facility.” ESL also plans to have a “We are delighted to welcome this latest service weekly service linking to offering from GB Railfreight. The Port of Felix- Regular rail services are also run from its operations in Widnes, stowe already offers a wide array of rail services Felixstowe to Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire. through our three intermodal terminals and this Leeds, Teesport, Birmingham, Doncaster, Sel- latest service supports the range of sustainable by, Hams Hall, Wakefield, Ditton (Widnes), • PD Ports has been transport options available to port users.” Rotherham and Cardiff.