Encouraging Railfreight

[pjh]

As a keen supporter of railfreight is there a definitive list of companies who use rail in their supply chain that may influence the way I spend my money.

 

[Drsatan]

Tesco use a dedicated train operated by DRS between Daventry and Livingston, which you can read about here

 

[S19]

Tesco use a dedicated train operated by DRS between Daventry and Livingston, which you can read about here

I didn't think DRS still had the contract for Stobart Rail? Hasn't it gone to DBS or someone?

 

[gareth taylor]

I didn't think DRS still had the contract for Stobart Rail? Hasn't it gone to DBS or someone?

DBS has got it. Using a Cl92 in each direction.

 

[rail-britain]

companies who use rail in their supply chain

Many companies do, but not directly
In general you need to look at your end supplier, at some point the goods may have travelled by rail, but not in all cases

Retailers tend to use an intermediary, who have all the resources; containers, HGVs, etc
As above, Tesco are the obvious retailer, now using DBS
Safeway used to, through Malcolm Logistic, now transferred to Morrisons
Asda also took advantage of this service
However, you would only benefit from this if you were a customer of those stores (Ullapool, Thurso, Wick, Aberdeen)
M&S use Freightliner, but not directly, through GIST

Power station operators use rail almost exclusively, over road transport

The construction industry has a long way to go
However, London Concrete and Hanson Aggregates are two main companies that have expanded their facilities

Even when you travel by plane, the fuel used may have arrived by rail rather than road
This would apply to flights from Prestwick

 

[9K43]

There is a problem there are not may road to rail interchanges left where goods can be carried by rail.
All the big yards are gone, so are the staff that work in those yards.
In Leeds, we had lots of places where you could run into a customers premises, but now most of them have gone, such as D and F Steel,Hunslet East ORT,Car Terminal at Wakefield Westgate, Bombadier at Horbury Junc, Cobra Rail Freight at Wakefield Kirkgate, Dunlop and Ranken Steel in Leeds.
The list is endless.
At one time, Cobra Rail Freight was very busy with steel wire, Continental Ferry Vans from France and Italy Steel roll from Midelesboro and the Dusty Bins train from GMWD.
The first train in was at 0530hrs from Midelesboro and tha last was 2030hrs back to Rotherham. This location alone kept us busy 6 days per week with 2 shift working.
Bombardier at Horbury Junction is now a council Depot.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Even when you travel by plane, the fuel used may have arrived by rail rather than road
This would apply to flights from Prestwick

Depends on the airport, though. Most in the south now get fuel by pipeline don't they? Certainly Gatwick does - pipeline all the way from Fawley! Not good for rail...

 

[plannerman]

Many companies do, but not directly
In general you need to look at your end supplier, at some point the goods may have travelled by rail, but not in all cases

^ What he said ^

Most non-bulk imports now come in containers, which are usually taken from the docks to the relevant distribution centre by a specialist haulier. Most of these hauliers - i used to work for Maritime Transport - use both road and rail to verying degrees, depending on the destination, weight of the box, delivery time required, security requirements etc. There's probably no way of knowing if an import was railed or roaded, unless you can identify the particular container that the product was in.

Same goes for exports.