DB Cargo UK moves from road/rail to road vehicles to improve breakdown response

DB Cargo UK[1] has improved its ability to respond to breakdown and recovery operations with a fleet of ten new Iveco 7-tonne vans that will carry heavy-lifting and other recovery equipment. The new Iveco vans will replace the company's ageing fleet of Bruff road/rail vehicles that have been out of service since 2023 when ten other Iveco vans were obtained[2].

DB Cargo UK's new fleet of road recovery vehicles. // Credit: DB Cargo UK

They will be deployed throughout the UK and have been specially adapted so that DB Cargo's recovery teams will be able to access the remotest parts of the UK rail network. As the leading provider of breakdown and recovery services to the UK rail industry, every year DB Cargo UK responds to more than 140 incidents.

These range from minor derailments to major accidents, and provide a rapid and effective recovery service to ensure the UK s railway network is kept moving. Emergency teams are based at DB Cargo UK depots in Toton in the East Midlands, Wigan in Lancashire, Millerhill in Scotland, Newport in South Wales and Hoo Junction in London, and operate 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year.

DB Cargo UK Class 66. // Credit: DB Cargo UK

The new vans will provide DB Cargo UK breakdown and recovery operation with a greater agility and ensure a speedier response to incidents. Bruff road/rail vehicles were custom built for the company in 1999, but they needed be be placed on railway lines to respond to incidents, which greatly reduced their usefulness and they will now be disposed of.

Also, equipment used to recover locomotives and wagons is now more compact and mobile, making it easier to transport and well within the capability of what the new vans can deliver on a day-to-day basis. Several years ago, DB Cargo UK donated a Breakdown and Recovery truck[3] that can run on road and rail to the National College for High-Speed Rail for use in engineering courses at the college.

DB Cargo Class 66 on the Bootle branch line. // Credit: Doug Birmingham

This is a significant investment we re making in our breakdown and recovery service which plays a pivotal role when things go wrong on the rail network. As well as recently expanding the number of depots we operate out of, over the past two years we have also invested more than 2 million in new welfare vans and lifting equipment to improve our overall response to incidents.

Our teams work is both physically and mentally demanding and is often undertaken in challenging environments and harsh weather conditions.

We ve worked hard to ensure they have everything they need when out on site, which can sometimes be for weeks at a time, he added.

Sean Coulby, DB Cargo UK Breakdown and Recovery Manager

References

1. ^ Posts tagged with DB Cargo UK (www.railadvent.co.uk)
2. ^ when ten other Iveco vans were obtained (www.railadvent.co.uk)
3. ^ DB Cargo UK donated a Breakdown and Recovery truck (www.railadvent.co.uk)