NEW SCOTTISH RAIL FREIGHT SERVICE OPENED
20 Gennaio 2009 - 8:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSTOB
RNS Number : 8982L
Stobart Group Limited
20 January 2009
NEW SCOTTISH RAIL FREIGHT SERVICE OFFICIALLY OPENED
Stobart Rail, in partnership with Tesco, is delighted to announce the opening of
a new six days a week Grangemouth - Inverness rail freight service. Stewart
Stevenson, Scottish Government Transport Minister will officially open the
service and the Inverness rail freight terminal today (20 January).
The Scottish Government, in its commitment to ease congestion on the A9 trunk
road, and reduce damage to the environment, has allocated over GBP3 million of
funding to all parties connected with this new rail freight service. This will
significantly reduce pressure on the busy A9 route to Inverness by taking away
over 13,000 lorry journeys each year, equivalent to 1.67 million lorry miles.
Overall there will be substantial environmental benefits, and it is estimated
that the new service will save 827,000 litres of fuel per year.
Six days a week, Stobart will collect goods from Tesco's new one million square
foot distribution centre at Livingston; deliver them to Grangemouth rail
terminal, operated by WH Malcolm, where they will be loaded onto a train leaving
for Inverness at 05.00. The train will arrive at John G Russell's Inverness rail
terminal at 11.01, for onward transfer to various Tesco stores around Inverness,
Aviemore, Wick, Dingwall, Elgin, Thurso, Ullapool and Forres. The journey will
then be repeated in reverse for southbound traffic to Grangemouth.
At the head of the train will be a new, environmentally-friendly Class 66
locomotive operated by Direct Rail Services (DRS) pulling a train carrying 20
Stobart Rail-designed 45' curtain-sided containers. The 8'6" high containers
have been designed to be able to travel on any rail route in the UK. This type
of container has proved extremely successful on Stobart Rail's existing Daventry
to Grangemouth service, due to its flexibility.
Stobart Rail was awarded a Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) towards the capital
cost of purchasing its inter-modal containers and a grant under the Rail
Environmental Benefits Procurement Scheme (REPS). This grant scheme provides
revenue support to freight operators for the transport of inter-modal containers
by rail rather than road.
Stewart Stevenson, Scottish Government Transport Minister, commented:
"We are investing over GBP3 million in this project, which will help get more
freight off Scotland's roads. Many of us have experienced congestion on roads
such as the A9 and the Government is taking real action to free up traffic flow
and reduce harm to the environment.
"Projects such as this make an important contribution towards achieving our
ambitious target of reducing emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, as part of the
most ambitious climate change legislation anywhere in the world.
"I would like to see more and more Scottish businesses think about their freight
priorities. If they do, we will see great environmental benefits and remove even
more traffic from our congested roads."
Andrew Tinkler, Chief Executive of Stobart Group, said:
"This new service is consistent with Stobart Group's strategy of providing
multimodal transport and logistics solutions. Once again, the Group is giving
its customers cost savings and reducing harm to the environment.
"We have worked closely with the Scottish Government, DRS, WH Malcolm and John G
Russell in getting this service running and look forward to opening more rail
freight services in the coming months."
Alex Laffey, Tesco Transport Director, commented:
"The Tesco 'Green Train' is a tremendous success story, and a real asset to our
distribution network. Tesco is committed to delivering products to customers in
a way that is sustainable and efficient; the rail service to Inverness is both.
"As well as the environmental savings, the train will save thousands of road
journeys on the A9 every year. To see the Inverness train fully operational is
fantastic; it has taken substantial commitment and investment by Tesco and our
partners to deliver."
Neil McNicholas, DRS Managing Director added:
"Rail, with its strong environmental credentials is an ideal sustainable mode of
transport and working in partnership with John G Russell, WH Malcolm and Stobart
Rail allows us to maximise its benefits which forms part of the Government's
green agenda."
A launch event is taking place at the Inverness Rail Terminal at 10.30am today
(Tuesday, 20 January). Anyone wishing to attend this event should contact Gareth
David on 07774 444162
ENQUIRIES:
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Stobart Group | Tel: 01625 860377 |
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Julie Gaskell, Head of Communications | Mobile: 07768 038912 |
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| | |
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| College Hill | Tel: 020 7457 2020 |
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Gareth David | Mobile: 07774 444162 |
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| | |
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Direct Rail Services | Tel: 01228 406516 |
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
| Eva Foran, Communications Liaison | Mobile: 07736 899055 |
| Manager | |
+----------------------------------------+------------------------------------+
Notes to Editors
Stobart Group
Stobart Group is one of the UK's leading providers of multimodal transport and
logistic solutions. The company provides road, rail, sea and air transport and
operates over 1,850 trucks and six million square feet of warehousing. The Group
employs more than 5,300 people in the UK, Ireland and Europe. Core to Stobart
Group's strategy is reducing environmental waste through providing innovative
transport solutions and efficient utilisation of its fleet. Stobart works in
partnership with its customers to offer transparency in pricing enabling them to
share both risk and reward.
Direct Rail Services
Direct Rail Services (DRS) is a national rail freight operator providing a
comprehensive range of services complete with a 24 hour control centre and
engineering support with offices and depots span across the country. The company
has operating depots/offices in London, Stowmarket, York, Crewe,
Inverness, Aberdeen, Grangemouth and Sellafield. DRS extends the reputation of
a safe, secure and reliable service to its expanding freight market by providing
specialist, general and domestic intermodal freight, along with third party
maintenance and asset hire.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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