History has been made in the UK building materials sector with the first jumbo train (34 wagons and 660m long) departing from Associated British Ports rail terminal in Cardiff and travelling to Acton in London. The landmark load of 2,300 tonnes of building materials will be used in the construction industry in the South East. Delivering the materials by rail will save the equivalent of over 80 truckloads on congested UK roads.
The train, operated by Britain’s biggest rail freight operator, DB Cargo UK, transported limestone from
“We hope that we can use this type of jumbo train on other parts of the rail network where we have rail heads in quarries and we need materials such as rock, sand and gravel to be transported into conurbations such as London, where the roads are most congested. We look forward to working work with
David Fletcher, head of major Projects at DB Cargo UK, said: “Using longer trains makes rail an even more efficient and competitive mode of transport. DB Cargo UK is pleased to have worked with Network Rail to deliver this new service for CEMEX UK. The 662 metres or 0.4 miles long train required the use of two locomotives because of the inclines in the Severn Tunnel. The use of one path to move a longer train also releases capacity for other freight services on a busy network.”