NEWS 130 July 2018

Helping ensure a sustainable future for UK rail freight www.rfg.org.uk

P.10AV Dawson wins major new British Gypsum deal

P.3 Freightliner and One sign new intermodal deal

P.11 A tribute to industry stalwart Jim Clark

Rail freight worth more than £1.7bn to UKHuge contribution of rail freight sector acknowledged in new industry report

The rail freight sector as a whole delivers benefits worth more than £1.7bn each year to the UK economy, according to a new report published by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).

The data reveals the extent to which rail freight is contributing to the future prosperity of the country by reducing road congestion, supporting the delivery of infrastructure and in lowering regional imbalances.

Other benefits, which arise through pro-ductivity gains to freight customers and environmental gains, are widely distribut-ed across the country but with the North of England, Midlands and Scotland seeing the highest levels.

Welcoming the report’s publication on 7 June, Maggie Simpson, RFG Executive Director, said: “This work by the RDG high-lights the very significant benefits that rail freight is providing to the UK each year,

at over £60 for each and every house-hold. Working together the rail freight in-dustry and its customers are continuing to invest and develop new services to further increase these benefits.”

In the report compiled by consultancy KPMG, RDG said that each year the rail freight industry carries goods worth more than £30bn for its customers, from whis-kies, cars and clothing to cement, stone and oil, including transporting more than one in four of the containers that enter and exit the UK via deep sea ports.

Paul Plummer, CEO of the RDG, said: “Working together, the partnership railway stands ready to do more to increase the benefits that rail freight is delivering for Brit-ain. As we prepare to develop new trading relationships outside the European Union, we can build on the £30bn worth of goods carried by rail freight, connecting more

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P.13 Rail freight’s Powerhouse PotentialRail freight sector gathers to celebrate

Tony Berkeley’s retirement Article and gallery on page 4.

Rail mustn’t get forgotten amid Brexit turmoilBy Maggie Simpson, Executive Director, Rail Freight Group (RFG)

What a great day we had celebrating Tony Berkeley’s 21 years as RFG Chairman! The glorious Kent countryside looked stunning in the sunshine and we were treated to a delicious lunch as we travelled. It was great that so many of our members were able to join us, along with many people who have supported us over the years, including those who have been RFG Board Members under Tony’s chairmanship.

You can read more about the day on page 4, and our thanks again to GB Railfreight (GBRf), and all those who helped to sponsor the day. Tony will officially stand down at our Autumn AGM and the Board will announce a new chair at that time. Meanwhile the RFG team continues to work as hard as ever to make the case for rail freight across the policy agenda. There is certainly plenty to do!

On Brexit we have seen a recent upturn in the messaging from businesses concerned over the direction of travel of the negotiations. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) put out a strongly worded statement highlighting the absence of progress on the critical issues that the freight industry faces, sentiments that we would support. Regardless of what one believes the right future relationship should be, the need to

have a practical and deliverable plan for next March is palpa-bly clear if the goods are to keep moving. RFG continues to work with Government particularly on cross border traffic, and we hope that the current political turmoil does not further delay the necessary focus on a pragmatic solution.

Elsewhere, the passenger railway is never far from the head-lines with ongoing disruption to timetables in the GTR and Northern franchises. Although freight is not directly involved in these problems, the consequential actions mean that some freight services are being affected, and that Network Rail’s regulated freight performance has declined. The freight op-erators are working hard to make sure that freight timetabling is a priority focus alongside passenger, and RFG has written to ORR as part of its inquiry into the débâcle, setting out the concerns of customers.

Finally, we have published some new position papers (below) on why rail freight must be a core part of the north Transpen-nine upgrade. RFG, along with the operators, has been rep-resenting the needs of freight customers in this project over the last two years but we have recently become concerned over suggestions that the project might be scaled back or de-scoped, to the disadvantage of freight growth. This would be unacceptable and we have working to highlight the demand case for the route and the necessity of ensuring a suitable upgrade is provided for freight and passenger users.

As you will see from this newsletter, these important policy ar-eas are set against continued market appetite for growth and new services, and it is good to see so many stories of new de-velopments. We are always pleased to include news items or articles from members so please do get in touch if that would be of interest. Meanwhile, enjoy the summer holidays. •

Executive Director’s Update: Maggie Simpson email your comments to maggie@rfg.org.uk

Call for certainty on future digital freight fundingRFG has welcomed the launch of Network Rail’s Digi-tal Railway Strategy, which aims to ensure that all new trains and signalling are digital or digital-ready from 2019 onwards. It cautioned however that without cer-tainty of future funding freight risks being left behind in this revolution, delaying delivery of benefits across the whole network.

Digital railway is a key enabler of future rail freight growth, delivering improved capacity for new services, better relia-bility and enhanced information for freight customers. Digital signalling should also facilitate quicker and cheaper connec-tions to new freight interchanges and terminals, bringing new users to the rail network and enabling a growth in modern rail-linked sites. •

ORR’s Draft Determination of Network Rail Commenting on the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) Draft Determination of Network Rail, Maggie Simpson, RFG’s Executive Director, said: “We are pleased that the Office of Rail and Road has listened to the significant concerns of rail freight customers and operators, and proposed to limit the increase in freight charges over the next con-

trol period. Although we need to understand the detailed impact on different markets, this should provide a stable framework for the next five years. We are however dis-appointed that ORR has chosen to increase charges for biomass traffic.

“In the longer term, Network Rail must now deliver on its effi-ciency targets so that the potential for further price increases in CP7 is reduced,” she added. •

Transport Committee Inquiry into Freight & Brexit RFG was pleased to submit evidence to the ‘Transport Committee’s Inquiry into Freight and Brexit’. There can be no doubt that Brexit is a very significant event for all in the freight sector, with ongoing political uncertainty in many key policy areas.

Within the RFG membership some companies are con-cerned at the potential impact, others see new opportunity, but all are united in the need for much greater clarity to ena-ble them to make the necessary changes in their businesses ahead of the exit date. Although the potential for a transition period is welcome, the need to confirm the final requirements for future trade arrangements remains a barrier to effective planning and implementation of the necessary business changes.

Click here to read the response in full. •2

RFG News July 2018

News in brief:• DB Cargo has launched its 2019 calendar compe-tition, inviting everyone to submit their best DB freight photos. For more details go to the Twitter hashtag #DBCalendar-Comp or email them at comms@deutschebahn.com

• AV Dawson has signed an Armed Forces Bronze Covenant, joining a call to encourage more logis-tics businesses to support former military personnel with careers in the sec-tor. The support comes in various forms including working with the Career Transition Partnership in order to establish tailored employment pathways for service leavers.

• David Noyes, former CEO of Cunard and senior director at BA, has joined Network Rail’s Board as a non-executive direc-tor. Michael O’Higgins, non-executive director, is retiring and will be leav-ing the Board on the 31 August 2018. Mark Carne, the current CEO, will retire on 13 August and the new chief executive, Andrew Haines will take over on 14 August.

• The Rail Forum East Midlands has changed its name to Rail Forum Mid-lands to better reflect its membership - as well as align with the increasingly important Midlands En-gine and Midlands Con-nect sub-national bodies.

• DB Cargo UK’s Head of Service Design has won a prestigious national award. Kate Turner (23) beat off stiff competition to be crowned winner of the ‘Above and Beyond’ cat-egory at the FTA Every-woman In Transport and Logistics Awards.

RFG News July 2018

Freightliner has signed a new intermodal contract with the newly formed contain-er shipping company, Ocean Network Express (ONE), a joint venture between MOL, NYK and K-Line.

The new deal represents some 118,320 miles each day removed from UK roads to rail, reducing emissions by some 67%. ONE will also save 180 tonnes of CO2 per day on inland transport, representing a 13% improvement compared to when the ship-ping lines were operating independently.

Derek Wakeling, Product and Network Direc-tor at ONE, said: “With ONE and Freightliner working together in partnership, everyone

benefits from a significant reduction in car-bon emissions and we can continue to pro-vide the high level of service that our cus-tomers expect from us.”

Adam Cunliffe, CCO of G&W’s UK/Europe Region companies, added: “I am delighted that Freightliner has been awarded this sig-nificant contract, recognising our positive track record of performance, reliability and scale of delivery. Having previously worked with all three Japanese shipping lines, we look forward to continuing our close work-ing relationship with our ONE colleagues and to making a positive impact on our en-vironment, as well as easing congestion on our roads by moving more freight on rail.” •

Continued from front page.

British businesses with new markets via our sea ports around the country.”

Separately the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has confirmed that over the year to April 2018, construction and international rail freight were the strongest performing sectors, with 1.5% and 13% growth respec-tively. This was despite an overall reduction of 1.7% with coal falling another 13% over the year.

Maggie added: “Although the headline re-sults are disappointing we are pleased to

see the continued growth in construction traffic, driven by an increased use of rail in support of UK infrastructure including housebuilding, new roads and major pro-jects. Over the coming year we are also expecting to see renewed growth in inter-modal, with new terminals opening such as iPort at Doncaster and services starting from Port of Liverpool and elsewhere.”

Rail Delivery Group report “Rail Freight: Working for Britain” can be found here. The Office of Rail and Road’s publication can be found here. •

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Freightliner signs new intermodal deal with Ocean Network Express

Car drivers demand less road freight Campaigners are calling on the Govern-ment to better fund rail freight after a survey found the majority of drivers said there is too much freight on the roads.

The survey from road safety charity Brake, found that 79% of drivers felt there was too much freight on the roads and wanted Gov-ernment to fund more rail freight.

Philippa Edmunds, from Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The Government should listen to drivers and fund a generous budget for the Strategic Freight Network. The DfT committed to a freight fund in the Rail Strategy but as yet the Government has not allocated the budget. The biggest issue facing rail freight is a shortage of infra-structure and space on the network which creates suppressed demand. Government investment to unblock pinch-points and im-prove the capability of the SFN is crucial to satisfy customer demand for rail freight.” •

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RFG members and invited special guests came together on 27 June to celebrate the career and huge contribution of Tony Berkeley, who retires later this year after more than two decades as Rail Freight Group chairman. RFG member GB Railfreight (GBRf) organized a locomotive naming ceremony and marked the occasion with a special train, with the newly named loco ‘Tony Berkeley OBE’. The train de-parted London Victoria on a round trip tour of the Kent coun-tryside and coastline, basking in the summer sunshine, before returning to London for a drinks reception. Guests came from right across the sector. They were welcomed at the Belmond Lounge, London Victoria, where GBRf MD John Smith and RFG Executive Director Maggie Simpson paid tribute to Lord Berkeley’s career. They applauded his tireless work to enhance and support open access, modal shift and the future growth of rail freight by consistently pressing the case both within Westminster and among UK businesses.Maggie said: “Tony Berkeley leaves the sector wholly transformed

from the one he joined some 21 years ago. His leadership, com-mitment and sheer determination have been instrumental in de-livering that progress. I know I can speak for all RFG members, both past and present, in thanking him for all he has done and wishing him a very happy and well-deserved retirement.” Tony thanked everyone for their support and said he was genu-inely surprised and delighted to have a locomotive named in his honour and was grateful for so many people turning out to mark the occasion. He also took the opportunity to pay tribute to indus-try stalwart and former RFG Board member Jim Clark, head of rail at W.H Malcolm, who sadly passed away recently.

Few people have done more to promote growth and support the future success of the UK’s rail freight sector than Tony Berkeley. He has been chairman of the RFG since joining it in 1997 and has since worked tirelessly to make sure that the needs of rail freight are at the top of the political and business agenda, keep-ing modal switch and free competition as priorities for all. Before joining the RFG, he was Public Affairs Manager at Eurotunnel from 1981 until the end of construction of the Channel Tunnel in 1994, after which he received an OBE.

He arrived at Rail Freight Group just a new Labour Government was taking office in the UK. John Prescott was Secretary of State for Environment, Transport & the Regions and Glenda Jackson was Junior Minister responsible for railways and London’s trans-port. Since then, nine other Secretaries of State have been re-sponsible for transport before the current Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, took over in July 2016.

Over that time the railways have been truly transformed, with rail freight a key part of that change as private companies work to innovate in the face of a changing market that is moving towards intermodal transport and away from traditional haulage.

Continued over the page.

Rail freight sector celebrates Tony Berkeley’s career with locomotive named in his honour

Through his tireless campaigning work, Tony has become the advocate for rail freight both within the House of Lords and throughout the wider political community. He understands the importance of educating the politicians and civil servants about the benefits of rail freight and has led RFG’s work in influencing policy with Government, including rail freight within Crossrail and HS2, legal and policy change, open access and industry struc-ture. He helped establish the All Party Parliamentary Rail Group, which has offered its members and other interested parties the opportunity to learn about freight and travel around the world to visit rail freight initiatives and projects.

His commitment to promoting the cause of rail freight in the UK has been well-documented but he has also been active in the rest of Europe, especially in Brussels, including as President and a Board member of the European Rail Freight Association. His influence can be seen across the lengthy process from the First Railway Package Recast to the Fourth Railway Package with all

the benefits that open access and greater interoperability are de-livering for freight.

For many of RFG’s members, the most valuable part of mem-bership has been the many networking opportunities. Tony has always recognised that the strength of the Group comes from its members and works hard to make sure a wide range of people get the right information and the opportunity to talk to potential business partners and customers. Under his leadership, the RFG has gone from strength to strength and the rail freight sector has continued to thrive. Thanks in no small part to his unrelenting efforts.

RFG would like to sincerely thank everyone for attending on the day to help us celebrate Tony’s retirement and especially to GBRf and all the companies who sponsored the event (Direct Rail Ser-vices, DB Cargo, Freightliner, W.H Malcolm and Kilbride).

RFG News July 2018

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RFG News July 2018

Don’t miss out on Direct Rail Services’ Open DayThe annual Direct Rail Services (DRS) Open Day will take place at its Gresty Bridge depot in Crewe on 21 July 2018 10am - 4pm.

Bring the family along for a fun day out as it invites you to have a look behind the scenes. There will be a range of locos on show including the new Class 88.

Entry is £5 at the gate. Under 16s get in free. Tickets are avail-able on their website shop. Please click here.

All money raised is distributed to charities and local causes via the DRS sponsorship and donations fund.

Periodic Review 2018: Freight Access ChargesORR has published its Draft Deter-mination for Network Rail for Con-trol Period 6.

Maggie Simpson said: “We are pleased that the Office of Rail and Road has listened to the significant concerns of rail freight customers and operators, and proposed to limit the increase in freight charges over the next control period. Although we need to understand the detailed im-pact on different markets, this should provide a stable framework for the next five years. We are however dis-appointed that ORR has chosen to increase charges for biomass traffic. In the longer term, Network Rail must now deliver on its efficiency targets

so that the potential for further price increases in CP7 is reduced.” You can find the documents for England and Wales, and for Scotland, here. Of particular importance for freight are the documents and consulta-tion on charges and incentives (click here and here. This sets out the framework for future access rights, with the price list expected from Net-work Rail in July.

In broad summary, the proposed ap-proach:• Caps variable charges at the current level for the first two years of CP6 (al-though there will be adjustments in detail to achieve this)• Increases variable charges by 3.6% in year 3, and 2.1% in each of years 4 and 5 (before inflation).• Links the annual inflationary rise to CPI, a change from the current RPI based increase.• Sets an expectation of a long-term trajectory of greater than CPI increas-

es in CP7 until charges reach the un-capped level (although this is subject to periodic review 2023)• Confirms that biomass traffic will be required to pay an additional charge, which will continue to also apply to coal, iron ore and nuclear traffic.

At this stage RFG does not have any further detail on how these increases will affect individual commodity sec-tors, as the capping applies to the total charge and there could be sec-tor specific changes from the detailed modelling. However, at the summary level, and with the exception of the bi-omass charge, we consider that this is a reasonable outcome for CP6. The charges consultation is open until 31 August if you wish to respond. You may also be interested in the draft settlement document for Network Rail’s Freight and National Passenger Operators route here. •

Midlands rail strategyA 20-year strategy to create a ‘Midlands Rail Hub’ has been outlined to create capacity for 6m more individual train journeys a year - a boost of some £649m a year to the area and shifting some £22bn of freight from the roads to rail. Midlands Connect’s ‘Our Routes to Growth’ report outlines a programme of railway network interventions to maximise ca-pacity across the Midlands’ network. It is working with part-ners including Network Rail, West Midlands Rail Executive, Transport for West Midlands and Transport for the East Mid-lands to develop the proposals, as well as supporting part-ners where appropriate in developing wider ambitions for the Midlands rail network.

With four of the UK’s five main rail freight routes passing through the Midlands, the Rail Hub will also significantly in-crease rail freight capacity, with 36 new paths per day.

Sir John Peace, Chairman of Midlands Connect and Mid-lands Engine, said: “The Midlands Rail Hub proposals can bring our great towns and cities closer together and acceler-ate the massive job creation we’re seeing all over the region. The potential to greatly increase the amount of rail freight running through the region is also a big opportunity to make the most of the released capacity from HS2 and reduce the amount of freight on our already congested roads. The initi-atives outlined in Our Routes to Growth are based on thor-ough research and detailed studies to identify which projects will give the greatest returns to rail passengers, road users and most importantly, the regional and national economies.”•

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AV Dawson has won a new contract with British Gypsum, the UK’s market leader for plaster and plasterboard products, importing materials through its Teesside freight terminal in River-side Park.

Product arrives by ship at AV Dawson’s berth for unloading into storage before be-ing loaded into trains for daily deliveries to the East Midlands. The new agreement will mean 10 new jobs at AV Dawson and over £2m investment in new facilities and plant equipment.

A new £1m purpose-built canopy, based on the southern end of the site, will be used to store the product. A direct rail

link will enter the canopy, allowing for the product to be loaded directly onto trains, without adverse weather conditions ham-pering operations.

Gary Dawson, MD of AV Dawson, said: “We’re thrilled to bring a big hitter such as British Gypsum to the Tees. This is a major new contract for our business and repre-sents a significant increase in the number of ships and trains coming into our site.

“Using both our port and rail facilities re-ally makes the most of the capabilities of our terminal. Our ships agency, Cockfield Knight, which is part of the AV Dawson group, has also supported the operation, enabling us to provide a very comprehen-

sive service offering. With the addition of the new rail canopy, we have developed an environmentally efficient solution that enables our customer to reduce its energy and CO2...It also represents a significant leap forward for our longer term strategy to expand our operations in the aggre-gates and minerals sector.”

Kevin Flinton, Saint Gobain’s senior pro-curement manager, said: “We awarded this new contract to AV Dawson because of the flexible and environmentally effi-cient solution they’ve provided to our busi-ness. We also liked that the business was prepared to take a long term view; invest-ing further in its facilities to ensure it could deliver the highest quality service for us.” •

AV Dawson signs major new deal with British Gypsum

ORR welcomes EC review of proposed Siemens and Alstom mergerThe Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has said it welcomes the European Commission’s decision to open an in-depth investigation into the proposed merger of Sie-mens and Alstom.

While not directly a freight issue, as key players in large-scale signalling works, ORR said it is concerned that the combined business could become too powerful and that competition would be significantly reduced. Joanna Whittington, ORR’s CEO, said: “We are set-ting out strong arguments to the European Commis-sion and pressing for significant structural remedies to ensure competition in key railway supply chains is protected.

“...For signalling, we consider the transaction is effectively a

‘2 to 1’ merger, creating a single monopoly supplier. For roll-ing stock, Siemens and Alstom have historically and in re-cent tenders, been fierce, close rivals. The merger will cause a substantial reduction in the pool of competitors for high value rolling stock contracts.” •

RFG Handbook 2018-19 available to downloadHave you picked up your copy of the RFG’s Annual Handbook and directory?

Alongside an extensive directory section, the handbook contains articles from key players in the rail freight sector including the Rail Minister Jo Johnson MP.

You can download a digital copy directly from the RFG website here. •

A tribute to industry legend Jim ClarkBy David Turner, Director of Rail, Malcolm Logistics

On 6 June 2018, former RFG board member and industry stalwart Jim Clark passed away peacefully at the Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow after a long illness. During a 50+ year career Jim witnessed a number of ‘firsts’ within the transport, logistics and rail sectors. He was a driv-ing force behind uniting the benefits of road and rail, bring-ing a true intermodal approach that many organisations rely upon today. Jim’s personality, presence and career were recognised at his funeral and cremation service where over 300 attended to celebrate his life. His love for his family, his work and also music were all noted during the day. Jim joined WH Malcolm (WHM) in 1989. He came from a road haulage background and his family had been involved in the industry for around 150 years. The family firm J.S Clark was established in 1850, so you could say Jim had a pedigree in transport. In an ever changing world he moved with the times to ensure that the Malcolm business contin-ues to offer what the customer wants, practical solutions and successful partnerships. One of Jim’s greatest contributions to the WHM business was the introduction of rail freight services in the late 1990s. Whilst the initial trials were unsuccessful, the true grit of this proud Scotsman ensured that the lessons learnt were soon put to good use and he masterminded the birth of today’s Malcolm Rail operation. With foresight, Jim convinced the WHM Board to invest in a rail-connected site at Grangemouth in Central Scotland and worked with Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Malcolm, to ac-quire a similar site at Crick, which was soon to become the important Daventry International Railfreight Terminal (DIR-FT). This was part of the vision held by Jim, an ability to perceive future opportunities and take calculated commer-cial risks. Jim’s expertise in road freight and the “how” of transport, is something which he strived to be developed in the rail in-dustry. Small details such as reducing wagon downtime, and pooling resources across a number of services are all normaltoday but this was not always the case.

Evidence of this is clear from Malcolm Rail’s early rail ser-vices, which commenced in February 2001 and swiftly de-veloped from just two trains per week, linking DIRFT and Central Scotland, to two trains per day. These soon evolved further to become the current seven day rail operations which continue to offer a true daily rail solution to the retail and logistics market. Jim’s drive and his support of the Malcolm Rail team, led to blue chip retailers and large manufacturers to dip their toe in the ‘rail’ water and become convinced of the effectiveness of rail. 17 years later with some challenges along the way one of his legacies is the annual movement of over 31000 con-tainers by rail between England and Scotland. One of Jim’s fellow RFG board members queried how much CO2 Jim had saved on his trains passing through the beautiful scenery of the North West and Scotland. It has been calculated as well in excess of 200,000 tonnes which is something we can all be grateful for. As an active member of RFG Jim worked hard to steer a road based culture in to rail to achieve a more intermodal way of thinking, highlighting the benefits of an integrated logistics product combining the core strengths of road and rail. Having served 3 terms (9 years) on the board of RFG, Jim stepped down in 2015 and retired from WHM as Manag-ing Director in 2016. All at WHM, RFG and his many friends within the wider logistics industry truly appreciate and acknowledge the im-pact Jim has had on the industry over the years. He will be remembered as a wonderful man, both inside and outside of work, a colleague, a mentor and to some quite simply as their work life Dad. Thank you Jim. •

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RFG News July 2018

Introducing a new generation to a career in supply chain Four years after its initial introduction, the new Glob-al Edition of the educational board game Business on the Move has been formally launched at the offic-es of international law firm HFW in Central London.

This latest version of the game has been designed to have more international appeal. The game’s core con-cept remains the same with players running multimodal businesses delivering freight as quickly, profitably and

responsibly as they can. Players must make the samedecisions businesses make every day. How do I deliver?Will I make a profit? How should I grow? How can I cut my carbon footprint?

Patricia Smedley, one of the game’s co-creators, said: “At a time of skills shortages and increasing globalisation it has never been more important to build the curiosity and interest of young people in supply chains from an early age. It is important that ‘Logistics & Supply Chains’ become a career of choice rather than a fortunate acci-dent. This requires those businesses and organisations in the sector to connect with young people, celebrating the importance of the industry, its relevance to their learn-ing and its intrinsic ‘wow’ factor.” •

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RFG News July 2018

Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry was in Yorkshire recently to un-veil the first of Drax’s rebranded train wagons used to deliver sustainable biomass to its power station. Since it upgraded half of the power station near Selby in North Yorkshire to use sustainable biomass instead of coal, Drax has transformed its business to become Europe’s biggest decarbonisa-tion project and the UK’s largest single site renewable power generator.

Key to its success is its supply chain – including the development of bespoke train wagons able to transport compressed wood pellets in the quantities needed for the power station.

Drax’s rail wagons, the first of their kind in the world, were designed and developed by Lloyd’s Register Rail (Ricardo) and WH Davis – the UK’s last independent freight wagon manufacturer. Work is now

being carried out at Davis Wagon Servic-es’ facilities (a subsidiary of WH Davis) to re-brand all 225 of Drax’s rail wagons, complete with new Northern Powerhouse branding.

Drax is a member of the government’s Northern Powerhouse initiative, which is aimed at boosting the region’s economy by investing in skills, innovation, transport and culture.

Speaking on the day Jake Berry, Northern Powerhouse Minister, said: “The develop-ment of Drax’s train wagons is a Northern Powerhouse success story. I’m delighted to unveil the first of the newly branded wagons. The energy sector has been and will continue to be a major source of jobs and economic opportunity in the North of England. It is worth over £5bn to the North and the region has more low carbon jobs per 1,000 employees than anywhere else in England.”

Andy Koss, Drax Power CEO, said: “With these trains delivering up to 20,000 tonnes of biomass each day, we are now powering millions of homes and business-es across the UK with reliable, renewable electricity, whilst generating over £500m for the northern economy and support-ing more than 6,000 jobs in the region – including some here at Davis Wagon Ser-vices’ facilities.

“We have invested £700m transforming the business from coal to biomass, includ-ing the development of an entirely new supply chain, and these rail wagons are a vital part of that investment.

“Our biomass comes into the ports on the east and west coasts from North America and Europe, and is brought to the power station by rail, because it is more efficient than road transportation – helping us to make carbon savings of more than 80% compared to when we used coal to gener-ate electricity.”

John Hall, Managing Director of Davis Wagon Services, said: “Our parent com-pany is the last UK rail freight manufac-turer, and winning the contract with Drax firstly to develop and build these unique biomass wagons and now in maintaining them, has enabled us to retain a number of staff in skilled jobs and invest £850,000 in our facilities here in the North. We will be working with Drax as it rebrands all of its wagons over the coming two years, re-wrapping them with the new brand-ing as part of a rolling maintenance pro-gramme.” •

New Drax trains: Powering the Northern Powerhouse

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Go-ahead for longer freight trains out of Southampton Campaign for Better Transport has welcomed the plan-ning permission at Redbridge, Southampton, for freight sidings. They would allow for longer freight trains, which can further reduce air pollution and road conges-tion both locally and on the whole A34 corridor to the West Midlands and beyond.

The development means that the existing 20 daily consum-er freight trains in and out of Southampton, which already remove around 1,600 HGVs per day, will be capable of re-moving an additional 728 HGVs each day as part of a wider

scheme to allow 775 metre trains out of Southampton port.

Philippa Edmunds, Freight on Rail Manager, Campaign for Better Transport, said: “In the week that Southampton Coun-cil announced plans for a Clean Air Zone in the city, re-open-ing these rail lines (sidings) and unlocking a pinch-point on the railway, is significant as it will reduce local air pollution and road congestion.

“Rail freight produces 90 per cent less PM10 particulates and up to 15 times less nitrogen dioxide emissions than HGVs for the equivalent journey. The longer trains can remove an ex-tra 200,000 HGVs each year from local roads and the whole A34 corridor to the Midlands and the North. Furthermore, it will improve road safety as Government figures show that HGVs are almost seven times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than cars on local roads.”

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DB Cargo boss named head of RDG Freight BoardDB Cargo UK’s Chief Executive Hans-Georg Werner has been appointed chairman of the Rail Delivery Group Freight Board. Werner said it was an honour to be asked to lead the RDG Freight Board and he was looking forward to championing the needs of the sector at every opportunity. He said the Board’s strategic priorities for 2018 would include sustaina-ble track access charges for CP6, the development of HS2 and extra freight capacity across the network.

“Every year the rail freight industry carries goods worth over £30bn, making it vital to the competitiveness of the UK economy and an intrinsic part of our everyday lives,” he said. “Over recent years we have seen significant change in the sector and its markets and we must be pre-pared for more. By working together we will ensure that we remain a sustainable industry that attracts the right level of investment to ensure we can continue to deliver for our customers and the UK economy.”

Freightliner signs new IT software deal with 3SquaredFreightliner has selected the RailSmart suite of operational software designed specifically for rail operators from software developers 3Squared. In the five-year deal, Freightliner is not only investing in 3Squared’s existing, lead-ing-edge RailSmart products, but will collaborate closely on exclusive fu-ture RailSmart developments, putting G&W and Freightliner at the forefront

of digital transformation in the UK rail industry.

Neil McNicholas, Managing Director of UK/Europe Region’s Rail Services said: “RailSmart will transform our UK rail busi-ness. Outdated, time-consuming, manual practices will be replaced with the latest intuitive Cloud and mobile-based plat-forms to streamline processes, increase productivity and support us in delivering an improved, even more reliable service to our customers.”

The RailSmart suite of software will ini-tially be rolled out in the UK, starting with the competency management system RailSmart EDS and RailSmart ORS, a Cloud and mobile-based solution for the

rostering of employees. Both are planned to be in operation later this year. Subse-quent modules will be delivered later this year and in the early part of 2019, driving improvements and efficiencies in other ar-eas of the business.

RailSmart’s software will also interface with a number of other Freightliner sys-tems, helping the business share infor-mation more effectively across its depart-ments, reducing duplication and unlocking additional benefits.

“We are delighted to be working with G&W and the Freightliner team as the industry embarks on this monumental shift to a digital railway,” said Tim Jones, MD of 3Squared Ltd. •

We’ve heard a lot about the delivery of the Northern Power-house, with column inches and manifestos full of debates on how best to realise this vision of economic and social regeneration. But conspicuous by its absence from much of the discussion is consideration of the smart delivery of construction materials, the foundation on which the North’s ambitions will be built.

These long-term aspirations will be supported by critical new in-frastructure and development projects to fuel economic growth, including HS2 Phase Two, ambitious road schemes and the pro-posed Moorside nuclear power station. Now is the time to think about how we build these once-in-a-generation projects – getting materials in the right place, at the right time.

Rail freight will be key. It is already a vital part of the UK construc-tion supply chain, with more than 20 million tonnes of aggregates and cement moved by rail each year. These impressive tonnages are on the rise, but policymakers and planning authorities must encourage and support construction rail freight to capitalise on its potential for efficient project delivery, relieving pressure on road networks and reducing carbon emissions.

For example, supply by one aggregate train is the equivalent of removing up to 60 HGVs from the road. It also produces more than 70 percent less carbon dioxide per tonne compared with the equivalent road journey. As congestion and air quality continue to dominate the national agenda, these sustainability credentials cannot be ignored.

At medium to long distances, it also offers better value for money than using the road network, but capitalising on these benefits requires robust planning now. Transport for the North’s emerg-ing strategy must seek to maximise rail freight’s potential or else suffer a missed opportunity for a modal shift towards an efficient, low-carbon supply chain.

There is also further scope for regional authorities such as the Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region Combined Au-thorities to consider how optimised land use planning and the protection of strategic rail freight sites from inappropriate adja-cent development can help deliver the Northern Powerhouse vi-sion sustainably and effectively. The availability of railhead sites is a pressing concern, and particularly in urban locations where

demand for more terminals to support construction traffic is acute, railhead locations must be carefully chosen and safeguarded.

Freight operators and customers are private sector businesses and many, like Tarmac, have been developing capabilities with new equipment and terminals. We recently opened a new rail depot at Garston, Liverpool to enable continuity of high quality material supply to customers in the North West, while also taking around 10,000 trucks off the road each year. This complements a range of multi modal sources in our own regional supply chain and is precisely the kind of third party activity that the region’s authorities can encourage by creating certainty. Crucial to this will be demonstrating that rail freight’s needs will be considered as passengers and freight compete for network capacity.

In the current climate of headline-grabbing disruption for pas-sengers, it is particularly important that Transport for the North’s passenger route planning should take account of freight require-ments without considering a ‘trade off’ of freight services to make space for new passenger flows. With growing private sector in-vestment in the rail network, now is the time for forward plan-ning that allows sufficient capacity for growth in both freight and passengers.

Crucially, early engagement with materials providers is key to understanding the value and viability of rail freight to support infrastructure delivery. Collaborative working across the supply chain should begin at the earliest opportunity, ensuring logistical solutions are considered from the outset.

Site access, for example, is critical. Clients and contractor de-sign teams need to develop site proposals that can support the use of rail freight. Here, local planning authorities can support the consideration and uptake of rail freight and other sustainable transport options through the planning system. Clients could be encouraged to consider multimodal options by placing greater scrutiny on construction logistics plans at application stage.

The opportunity is clear, but to keep the delivery of the Northern Powerhouse on track, it’s time for policymakers, materials suppli-ers and the wider construction industry to start talking rail freight.•

First appeared in www.placenorthwest.co.uk

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Rail freight’s Powerhouse potentialBy Chris Swan, Head of Rail, Tarmac

GUEST ARTICLE

RFG SPONSOR PARTNERS 2018The Rail Freight Group (RFG) would like to thank each of its Sponsor Partners for 2018. These companies come from within the

core RFG membership and have chosen to provide additional support for the group’s activities and events throughout the year. Together they represent a wide range of key stakeholders and RFG would like to sincerely thank all of them for their commitment to the group and

ongoing support to the UK rail freight sector.

Despite the historical contraction of heavy industry, Scotland still has significant manufacturing and pro-cessing sites spread across the country – from the Nor-board panel mill at Dalcross in the north to the Steven’s Croft forest industry complex at Lockerbie in the south.

Inevitably these sites generate large demands for freight movement. Some locations – such as the cement works at Dunbar, the Dalzell steel plant, the oil refinery at Grangem-outh and the Fort William aluminium smelter – benefit from direct rail connection, offering a resilient and sustainable al-ternative to 100 per cent dependence on road haulage. But many have lost – or never had – their own rail sidings.

However, government policy from local authorities to the Eu-ropean Union backs ‘modal switch’ from road to rail, with as-sociated economic, environmental and climate change ben-efits. While much of rail freight’s potential lies in the domestic intermodal sector – where containers are trunked by rail over the long haul, but typically need collection and delivery by road – eliminating a lorry leg at the start or end can help to transform rail economics and win more traffic back from the roads.

Protecting the possibility of gaining or regaining direct rail access to major industrial sites should therefore be at the heart of a long-term strategy. The rail industry can and does take its own steps to protect land from inappropriate devel-opment. Since privatisation, there has been a designated list of strategic freight sites (sites where there are no current rail freight activities but which are deemed to have freight poten-tial) which benefit from strategic protection.

This list, currently being updated by Network Rail, includes sites at key locations like Inverness, Keith and Mossend, where new or expanded rail terminals could handle freight traffic switched from the roads.

But the rail industry has no control over non-railway land containing existing industrial locations or potential develop-ment sites. This is where government – both local and cen-tral – has the key role to play in protecting land adjacent or close to the rail network.

Scottish Planning Policy (published by the Scottish Govern-

ment in 2014) does provide important guidance on protect-ing potential rail sites, including: “Where appropriate, devel-opment plans should . . . identify suitable locations for new or expanded rail freight interchanges to support increased movement of freight by rail. Facilities allowing the transfer of freight from road to rail or water should also be considered.”

This is sensible, but, unlike Scottish planning guidance in the 1990s, makes no reference to safeguarding of such sites. The latter is one of a number of issues where the rail freight industry, led by the Rail Freight Group, is drafting ideas for enhanced planning guidance.

Scottish planning policy also addresses the integration of dif-ferent transport modes, for example at ports: ‘Planning au-thorities and port operators should work together to address the planning and transport needs of ports and opportunities for rail access should be safeguarded in development plans.’

Major existing ports value their rail connections – for exam-ple at Aberdeen and Grangemouth – but it is important that new port developments, such as at Nigg Bay in Aberdeen, should protect the possibility of future access to rail. This could mean a direct rail branch line or a private ‘haul road’ leading to a convenient freight railhead – but the common principle is to protect a strategic local corridor. Too many po-tential rail freight sites or corridors have been lost to inappro-priate development.

A related issue is the need to consider rail freight prospects and potential future ‘near neighbour’ problems when local authorities reach decisions on, for example, whether or not to zone land for housing where it surrounds or lies adjacent to existing or mothballed rail freight facilities or routes. A long-term view is essential to avoid unnecessary future conflicts.

The rail network can never penetrate as far as lorries can go. But in key sectors such as aggregates, forest products and bulk whisky, a strategic approach to protection of land adjacent to railway routes will help to ensure that opportuni-ties to switch freight from truck to train are maximised. That will benefit everyone through reduced road congestion, im-proved road safety, better air quality and lower emissions. •

First appeared in The Scotsman (29 May 2018)

RFG OPINION

The road to fewer emissions is freight by rail – but proper planning is needed By David Spaven, Scottish Representative, Rail Freight Group

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RFG Events 2018:Attend our events and help support

the rail freight sector

6 February - RFG Members’ PartyTruckles, Central London

On 6 February RFG hosted its popular Members’ Party at Truckles, Central London.

11 September - RFG Awards DinnerDe Vere Latimer Estate, Chesham, Bucks.

The RFG Awards Dinner will be held on 11 September 2018 at the new venue of the De Vere Latimer Estate, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 1UG. If you wish to book a table and/or donate a prize to the raffle, please contact Phillippa O’Shea at

phillippa@rfg.org.uk. If you are planning on staying overnight we advise that you book your room as soon as possible, as we have a limited allocation of rooms and once our allocation is taken up we cannot guarantee that there will be any rooms available as this is very popular venue. The 2018 RFG awards are kindly sponsored by Burges Salmon LLP and

GB Railfreight (GBRf).

12 December - Christmas Lunch The Royal Lancaster London, Central London

The RFG Xmas Lunch will be held on Wednesday 12 December 2018 at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel.Bookings are now being taken. Please email Phillippa O’Shea at phillippa@rfg.org.uk

1 May - Multimodal Group Meeting Multimodal Birmingham NEC

RFG is delighted to again be hosting its regular Group Meeting at the Multimodal 2018 exhibition. Now in its 11th year, Multimodal is the UK and Ireland’s premier freight transport, logistics and supply chain management event.

19 April - Rail Freight ConferenceAddleshaw Goddard, London

The Rail Freight Group Conference returns for its 26th year, convening the entire industry to explore how to respond to emerging opportunities and overcome the biggest challenges facing the sector in 2018 and beyond.

To book your place at any of the RFG’s excellent events throughout the year, please call Phillippa O’Shea on 020 3116 007, email her at phillippa@rfg.org.uk or visit our website www.rfg.org.uk/events for more details and booking forms.

7 November - AGM and Autumn Group MeetingSupported by The Port of Sunderland, with a port visit in the afternoon. Full details to be announced in due course.

Planning Update By Elizabeth Dunn, Partner and Stephen Humphreys, Solicitor, Burges Salmon

This issue we discuss the proposed Heathrow Airport expansion and provide an update on applications for new Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, in-cluding Wylfa Newydd Power Station and the Northamp-ton Gateway Rail Freight Interchange.

Heathrow Airport Expansion and NPSOn 5 June 2018, the Department for Transport laid the re-vised proposed Airports National Policy Statement (”NPS”) before Parliament. The Secretary of State intends to use the Airports NPS, if designated by Parliament, as the primary basis for making decisions on any DCO application at Heath-row Airport.

The proposed Airports NPS explains:• the need for additional airport capacity in the south-east of England

• why the government believes this need is best met by a north-west runway at Heathrow; and

• the specific requirements that the applicant for such a new runway would need to meet to obtain development consent under the Planning Act 2008.

On Monday 25 June 2018, MPs met to vote on the proposed NPS, including proposals for the new runway. MPs voted by 415 to 119 – a majority of 296, to approve the scheme. Inter-estingly (and controversially) this was on the same day that the Government refused to endorse the Swansea Tidal La-goon scheme. The planned cost of a new Heathrow runway looks set to be around £14bn and the Government insists that this figure will be derived from private finance and not from the taxpayer.

The proposed third runway at Heathrow, to the north-west of

the existing two runways, would provide for an increase from 480,000 takeoffs and landings each year to around 740,000. The Department for Transport says the expansion will bring substantial benefits: more jobs and greater economic growth along with more flights, with Heathrow suggesting economic benefits of up to £187bn to passengers and the wider econ-omy and create 180,000 local jobs.

Predictably, concerns have been raised over the environ-mental impacts of the scheme, mainly regarding noise and air quality. This announcement has come at a time when the Government is being highly criticised for its failure to secure an adequate air quality plan (see out previous articles on this). However, the government is promising, “a world-class package of compensation and mitigation measures to sup-port those affected by the expansion, with up to £2.6bn for compensation, noise insulation and community amenities, which could include improvements to parks and leisure fa-cilities.”

Clearly the pros and cons of the application will need to be assessed when a DCO application is submitted to the Secre-tary of State, in line with the approved policies laid out in the new NPS. Heathrow Airport is currently running a second public consultation on its proposal before applying for con-sent to build the scheme.

Wylfa Newydd Nuclear Power Station application ac-cepted for examinationThe application for the Wylfa Newydd Nuclear Power Sta-tion was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by Horizon Nuclear Power on 1 June. The application was accepted by PINs on 28 June 2018. This is the second new nuclear power station to be applied for, after EDF’s Hinkley Point C development.

The proposal at Wylfa is for a new power station with two nuclear reactors with a minimum generating capacity of 2700 MW, located to the west of the former Magnox Wyfla Power Station, which is being decommissioned.

Continued over the page.

Planning Update - Burges Salmon July 2018

The development will include:• a Marine Off-Loading Facility (MOLF);• cooling water intake and outfall structure;• electricity transmission infrastructure;• other associated buildings, such as administration offices, park and ride facilities, temporary worker accommodation, and at least one logistics centre;• construction of a temporary Site Campus to accommodate construction workers;• interim waste and spent-fuel storage facilities;• access roads; and• measures and initiatives to manage any impacts during the construction and operation of a new power station.

As Europe’s largest construction site, it is projected that Wyl-fa Newydd will require a workforce of around 4,000 workers for the majority of the time, with up to 9,000 workers required during a peak period at the end of 2023. Once complete, the station is expected to create up to 850 permanent jobs and will operate for 60 years.

It is currently possible for people to register to become an Interested Party on the application, by making a Relevant Representation to PINs. Registration closes on 13 August 2018, following which PINs will decide when the examination into the application should begin. Given the timing of the application, it looks likely that a decision will be made on the project in or around Summer 2019. Given our involvement in this project, we will keep you updated on developments as the application progresses.

Northampton Gateway Rail Freight Interchange accept-ed for examinationAn application was received by the Planning Inspectorate from Roxhill Developments Limited for the Northampton Gateway Rail Freight Interchange. The application, known as “Northampton Gateway” is for the development of a Stra-tegic Rail Freight Interchange (“SRFI”) together with land-scaping, access and other supporting infrastructure works adjacent to Junction 15 of the M1 in Northamptonshire. It consists of:

• an intermodal rail freight terminal including container storage

and HGV parking, rail sidings to serve individual warehous-es, and with the capability to also provide a ‘rapid rail freight’ facility as part of the intermodal freight terminal

• up to 468,000 sq m of warehousing and ancillary buildings, with additional floorspace provided in the form of mezza-nines;

• new road infrastructure and works to the existing road net-work, including the provision of a new access and associat-ed works to the A508, a new bypass to the village of Roade, improvements to Junction 15 and to Junction 15A of the M1 motorway, the A45, and other highway improvements at junctions on the local highway network; and

• earthworks and demolition of existing structures on the SRFI site.

The Planning Inspectorate accepted the application for ex-amination and parties can register to become an Interested Party until 5 August 2018. It is of course good news to see the proposed development of further rail freight interchang-es, demonstrating a clear and ongoing need for this type of development, needed to bolster the rail freight industry.

Planning Update - Burges Salmon July 2018

Contact: Elizabeth Dunn, Partner elizabeth.dunn@burges-salmon.com

Stephen Humphreys, Associatestephen.humphreys@burges-salmon.comwww.burges-salmon.com

RFG Awards Dinner 2018

11 September 2018 | De Vere Latimer Estate, Chesham, Bucks.

The RFG Awards Dinner will be held on 11 September 2018 at the new venue of the De Vere Latimer Estate, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 1UG.

If you wish to book a table and/or donate a prize to the raffle, please contact Phillippa O’Shea at Phillippa@rfg.org.uk.

If you are planning on staying overnight we advise that you book your room as soon as possible, as we have a limited allocation of rooms and once our allocation is taken up we cannot guarantee that there will be any rooms available as this is very popular venue. The 2018 RFG awards are kindly sponsored by Burges Salmon LLP and GB Railfreight (GBRf).

Freight and BrexitBy Jonathan Roberts, MD, JR Consulting

Amid the wider political tensions with Brexit, the House of Common’s Transport Select Committee is holding an inquiry into policy and practical issues arising for the freight industry. This was announced on 26 April, and written evidence was received until 8 June. The Commit-tee is likely to call for oral evidence this autumn, once the shape of Brexit legislation and negotiation progress is clearer.

At the current stage of progress, this column describes the terms of reference of the inquiry, and lists by topic the written evidence received, including links to the individual submis-sions.

The Transport Committee is focusing on the potential effects of Brexit on UK freight operations and assess the prepara-tory steps operators, their customers and the Government need to take. The Committee has been particularly interest-ed to receive written evidence addressing:

• the scale and nature of the challenges and opportunities Brexit presents to UK freight companies and their customers

• the adequacy of steps being taken by freight companies, their representatives bodies, their customers and the Gov-ernment in preparation for the challenges and opportunities of Brexit

• mode and/or sector-specific requirements for additional Government funding, or other changes to Government fund-ing plans, particularly in relation to transport infrastructure, to support the needs of freight

• any new arrangements needed for the licencing, regulation and training of operators and workers in the freight sector after Brexit (including the adequacy of measures set out in the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill). Inquiry backgroundThe motives for the Transport Committee inquiry are to help define what’s needed, going forwards. The Committee ex-plicitly hopes the sector will be forthcoming about the issues involved and specify their needs. It has commented that:

• different businesses have different freight-related needs - for some, the timeliness of deliveries is crucial, for others, it’s the cost of moving freight; for example, the arrangements of perishable goods will be different from raw materials for manufacturing or parts for assembly

• road haulage, maritime and aviation sectors may need to take different steps to prepare for the effects and harness the opportunities of Brexit - but there has been little published analysis of sector-specific freight needs

• although UK and EU negotiators have now agreed a Brexit transitional period to run until December 2020, the pressure is on to determine just what is required - and what can be delivered in the time available - for the smooth operation of freight in the longer term.

Transport Committee Chair, Lilian Greenwood MP, has com-mented: “We’ve heard a lot about custom arrangements, border controls, tariffs and trade deals. But we haven’t heard

enough about transport infrastructure, policy and regulation implications affecting freight operators and their customers. But from day one after Brexit, we will expect our goods to turn up and for life to continue as normal.

“While the agreement of a transitional period to December 2020 is welcome, there remains a great deal of uncertainty for UK freight operators and their customers. The implica-tions of Brexit will vary across freight modes and types of freight. We want the sector to tell us what’s worrying them. What is required to make this work?

Lilian Greenwood says that the future work priorities of the inquiry are to “focus on areas where government and indus-try actions will be most pressing, to prepare for both the chal-lenges and opportunities of Brexit.”

Written evidence received:

Across modes• The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK - written evidence • Department for Transport - written evidence

• Freight Transport Association - written evidence

• UK Transport in Europe (UKTiE)-Addendum to written ev-idence

Rail freight• Drax Group plc - written evidence

• Freight on Rail

• G&W UK/Europe Region Companies - written evidence

• GB Railfreight - written evidence

• Rail Delivery Group - written evidence

• Rail Freight Group - written evidence

Ports and Shipping• Associated British Ports - written evidence • British Ports Association - written evidence

• Neptune Shipping Agency - written evidence

• Port of Tilbury - written evidence

• Dr Steve New - written evidence

Road freight• IRU - written evidence

• Sealane Freight Ltd - written evidence

Air freight• Airport Operators Association - written evidence

• Airline Operators Committee Cargo - written evidence

• Airlines UK - written evidence

• CargoLogicAir Ltd - written evidence

Continued over the page.

Westminster Update - JR Consulting July 2018

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• Heathrow Airport - written evidence

Geographical areas (principally Kent/London)• Centre for European Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University - written evidence

• Kent County Council - written evidence

• Kent Police - written evidence

• Stone Hill Park Ltd - written evidence

• London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) - written evidence

Workforce• Unite the Union - written evidence • Nautilus International - written evidence

Individual submissions• Dr Janet Smart - written evidence

• Andrew Watt - written evidence

The Rail Delivery Group has summarised the rail freight sec-tor’s concerns concisely:

• Smooth cross border transport: Passenger and freight train operators need to access rail infrastructure without un-due cost, delay or operational boundaries.

• Reciprocal market access: The rail industry needs an

agreement which allows reciprocal market access to both EU and UK railway companies and their owning groups with-out complications.

• Access to EU skills: The industry relies on continued ac-cess to skilled workers to continue operating and upgrading the railway, to support economic growth. Government and the industry should work together to ensure the industry can have access to a sufficient number of skilled workers either trained domestically or from the EU.

• Clear application of railway standards: Ideally, the sec-tor would have continued influence in the design of Europe-an standards and, where in the interests of efficiency/safety, continued application of EU standards.

Since the deadline for written evidence, the UK Government has published a simplistic note, setting out a Framework for the UK-EU partnership for Transport. This has no reference to rail freight and its current and future roles. •

Westminster Update - JR Consulting July 2018

Contact: Jonathan Roberts, MD, JR Consulting07545 641 204jr@jrc.org.ukwww.jrc.org.uk

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DB Cargo UK has announced that all its rail sites and offices will be powered by 100% renewable elec-tricity thanks to a three-year agree-ment with SSE Business Energy.

SSE Business Energy will supply all sites belonging to DB Cargo UK and will allow it to report zero carbon emission electricity, cutting an esti-mated 5,000 tonnes of carbon emis-sions. The volume of carbon saved is the equivalent to powering almost 4,000 homes with green electricity, or taking around 17m miles driven by an average car off the road.

DB Cargo UK worked with Schneider Electric along with DB Schenker UK and Arriva UK Group to identify and evaluate supplier options and arrange the deal.

Roger Neary, Head of Sales at DB Cargo UK, said: “Our customers have long understood the environmental benefits of moving their goods via rail rather than road; however our

customers are increasingly more en-vironmentally aware with “green is-sues” becoming prominent on their daily agendas. This initiative not only demonstrates DB Cargo’s under-standing of our customers’ require-ments but also supports DB Cargo’s vision for global sustainability”.

Andrea Jones, Head of Procurement at DB Cargo UK, said: “This is a mas-sive step forward to improving our impact on the environment. We are committed to work with our suppliers to support our DB2020+ Group global strategy to become an Eco-Pioneer by 2020.”

Richard Lait, Head of Safety, Security & Environment at DB Cargo UK said: “Producing electricity from sources which do not cause significant impact on the environment contributes signif-icantly to our responsibility to tackleglobal warming and pollution. Utilis-ing natural energy flows to create the cleanest energy sources makes good economic sense too”

Andy Dewis, Vice President of Ener-gy & Sustainability Service at Schnei-der Electric, said: “As technologies advance and prices fall, renewables make good business sense, but with an array of options, finding the right source and supplier and negotiating favourable terms, can be daunting. Through a rigorous selection process, DB Cargo made a milestone invest-ment that serves its customers, com-munities and long-term operational needs.”

Amber McEwen, Head of Marketing, SSE Business Energy said: “There is an increasing demand in the market for organisations to be more sustain-able and environmentally conscious. SSE has the broadest portfolio of re-newable energy generating assets in the UK and Ireland, and we’re delight-ed to be able to use these assets to offer SSE Green.” •

DB Cargo UK to power all rail sites and offices with 100% renewable electricity

News in brief:

• Francois Davenne, Sec-retary General of OTIF (Intergovernmental Or-ganisation for Internation-al Carriage by Rail) has been appointed the new Director General of UIC by the UIC General As-sembly. His mandate will start mid-2019. He will take over the position from current Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, who has occupied the post since March 2009.

• Dutch track access charges will be reduced significantly next year to be in line with the German tariffs, which are set to be cut in half. This is part of a measure package pro-posed by the Dutch gov-ernment and various rail freight industry parties to create a level playing field for the Dutch rail freight sector. Reported by Railfreight.com

• Rail freight volumes in the Netherlands declined by 6.1% in 2017, despite a 1.4% increase in the over-all freight transport mar-ket, according to data from the Dutch Central Statis-tics Office (CBS). Total rail freight volumes fell to 37.8 million tonnes after sev-eral years of growth. Out-bound international traffic fell by 9.1% year-on-year but inbound traffic rose by 2.2%, with the German market driving growth. Click here to read more.

• PKP Cargo has sub-mitted a bid in a tender announced by Veolia for around 5m tonnes of coal transport between 2019-2021. As a result of the same tender PKP CAR-GO S.A. will also carry out additional transports of 950,000 tonnes of coal for the Veolia Polska Group in 2018 as part of a binding agreement that will be ap-pended.

Contact the RFG Team: Tony Berkeley, Chairman, 07710 431 542Maggie Simpson, Executive Director, 07737 007 957Phillippa O’Shea, Administration Manager, 07931 763 081 James Falkner, Media Officer, 07753 271 110Robin Smith, Welsh Representative, 07968 488 905 David Spaven, Scottish Representative, 07917 877 399Mike Hogg, North of England Representative, 07833 402 804Yvonne Mulder, Project Manager, 07887 767 666

RFG News is published by the Rail Freight Group, 7 Bury Place, London, WC1A. Tel: 020 3116 0007 Fax: 020 3116 0008. www.rfg.org.uk. RFG welcomes comments, letters and short articles. Opinions expressed in these articles are of the author only. RFG News is published primarily for online distribution but we will continue to send hard copies to those readers who request them.

Damco launches new weekly China rail freight service Damco has announced a new weekly East-West rail service in response to growing customer demand, a route from China to Europe some 20 days faster than ocean freight. Kasper Krog, Global Head of Rail at Dam-co, said: “We know the pressures our cus-tomers are under to reduce the time it takes to move their goods from source to shop. We’ve seen an incredible rise in demand for rail, which is a reliable and speedy alterna-tive to air freight.”

Caroline Wu, CEO of Damco Greater China Area, added: “The new weekly East-West rail service will enable Damco’s customers to develop a more agile supply chain, allow-ing them to react swiftly to consumer be-haviour and changes in the market. Thanks to our GPS tracking, we offer our custom-ers detailed insights into the whereabouts of their containers at all times, giving them peace of mind about the timely delivery of

their goods, as well as their safety and se-curity as they make their journey.” •

SNCF Logistics buys Spanish rail freight operatorSNCF Logistics has bought out Spanish firm Comsa Rail Transport (CRT). The value of the purchase, which is subject to approval by the Spanish competition authority, has not been disclosed.

CRT began operating in 2007, when it be-came Spain’s first open-access rail freight operator, and SNCF acquired a 25% stake in the company in April 2013. CRT has grown rapidly over the last five years, with the number of trains operated increasing from 8400 in 2013 to 19,200 in 2017. The company had a turnover of €32m in 2017 and employs nearly 200 staff.

CRT is set to be renamed Captrain España, bringing it under SNCF Logistics’ brand for its rail freight operations outside France. Captrain. •

European News July 2018

Bombardier presents new Traxx 3 locoBombardier Transportation has officially introduced its new Traxx 3 loco and what it has called its most innovative plat-form.

The Traxx MS3 locomotive is thought to be the only locomotive on the market with the Last Mile function, letting it easily bridge non-electrified track sections often found in ports or freight terminals. •

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