Posted 30th September 2008 | 6 Comments
Eddie expands supermarket services
An Eddie Stobart train heads north on the West Coast main line
DRS and its partner Eddie Stobart, the Carlisle-based logistics group, have extended their five-days-a-week freight service operated on behalf of supermarket Tesco.
The service from Daventry, West Midlands, to Grangemouth near Glasgow will include Saturdays, and a second route between Grangemouth and Inverness is planned to start later in the year.
Transferring goods from road to rail for the additional day will save more than 2.4 million litres of fuel a year, and extension of the service to Inverness six days a week will remove 5.3 million tonnes of freight and more than 13,000 lorry journeys from the busy A9 road every year for the next five years.
The DRS and Eddie Stobart partnership for Tesco has been a success story since its launch in 2006 and won the Freight Achievement of the Year award at last year’s National Rail Awards.
The 14 wagons hauled by a DRS Class 66 locomotive convey 28 specially designed curtain-sided containers and leave Daventry at 05.10 each Saturday to arrive at Grange-mouth at 13.55. From there, the supermarket goods are delivered by road to Tesco’s new one million square foot Livingstone distribution centre during the weekend.
The new extended service will transfer goods from Livingstone to a train of 20 new 45 ft containers at Grangemouth for the journey to Inverness, from where they will be taken by road to Tesco stores around Inverness, Aviemore, Wick, Dingwall, Elgin and Forres.
The Scottish Government has awarded a £525,000 Freight Facilities Grant to Eddie Stobart towards the cost of 70 intermodal containers, along with Rail Environmental Benefits Procurement Scheme funding of up to £457,600 to provide revenue support for transport of inter-modal containers by rail rather than road.
Stobart chief executive Andrew Tinkler said: “Our successful rail freight service gives our customers cost savings and reduces harm to the environment.
“We are pleased with the Scottish Government support and are committed to helping Tesco reduce its carbon footprint.”
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
John Brownlee, Strathaven, South Lanarkshire
Mr Allens point about the forward destinations from Inverness is of course true but impractical for the investment of loading facilities for only two or three containers delivered. Perhaps if ASDA, Morrisons and others joined the party then services to at least some of these destinations could come about. There was a service to Orkney before from Georgemas via Scrabster. I am sure Eddie and Co. are working to make there service atractive to others??
andyganley, sutton, england
Spot on D Mckinnon, Why indeed,the Pendolinos are like 'planes in rails,
very cluastrophibic,not a patch on the MK3 stock,Voyagers,dont make me laff!
give me an HST and as for the farce of the new IC order dont even go there.
Same with freight,whats the point of upgrading the WCML just for Virgin?
aprart from the grossly underused S&C where is the capacity fro growth?
have to thank good old Dr Beeching for that(closing the GC route to Manchester and the Woodhead route as well) Still thats what happens when you privatise a railway and let civil servants and bus operators loose!
I McKinnon, Newcastle under Lyme, UK
Why diesel, again? The WCML is electrified so why not use it? We sell Class 87's to Bulgaria and then buy U.S.imports of diesel locomotives! Derr!!!
It's the same crazy rationale that sees Virgin using dmus (Super Voyagers) on WCML services. How can that be "green" apart from the fact that ANY Voyager being grossly inferior to a Pendolino (or even loco-hauled MK2 or MK3 stock)! Who are the TOC's trying to kid?
dave, eastleigh, UK
If tesco build their new depot nr Andover (North Hampshire) I hope they consider using the West of Englad line for some rail movments
Malcolm Pym, Kettering, England
It is a pity that BR, Railtrack / Network Rail have sold off all the land around London and the rest of the country and rationalised routes from 4 - 2 tracks . This means more delays for the freight business and a continuing lack of suitable pathways. Where possible more freight should be put to rail.
Thomas Allen, Albufeira, Portugal ex Kent man
Interesting that all those places to be served by road from Inverness are on the railway. What scope is there for a run to Wick especially?