Freightliner and Tarmac launch “unusual” road-to-rail aggregates flow

Freightliner 66605 at Newport Docks with a train of aggregates containing a high PSV rating which was brought form Hafod Quarry by road. FREIGHTLINER.

Freightliner and Tarmac have teamed up to start the first bulk service to benefit from Network Rail's Track Access Discount Scheme. Freightliner 66605 at Newport Docks with a train of aggregates containing a high PSV rating which was brought form Hafod Quarry by road. FREIGHTLINER. Freightliner and Tarmac have teamed up to start the first bulk service to benefit from Network Rail's Track Access Discount Scheme. Since May, a specialist material with a high Polished Stone Value which is used for high-speed road construction has been transported from Newport Docks to Tarmac's Harper Lane Asphalt Plant in Radlett, Herefordshire.

Because quarries with high-value PSV material are rare, the stones which are mined at Hafod Quarry are taken by road to Newport Docks, where it's then loaded onto rail, something Tarmac's Head of Rail, Chris Swan, admitted was unusual. But he said that rail enabled Tarmac to "get this scarce stone into the South East", where it's not found. Ed Wilson, Commercial Director - Heavy Haul at Freightliner [1], added: "One of the challenges we had was the quarry is not rail connected.

We needed to identify somewhere suitable as close as possible to the quarry to transfer from road to rail." Material is driven down from Hafod and piled up ready for the once-a-week train which carries approximately 1,600 tonnes. Wilson said the track access discount scheme helped "get this going".

Running for six months, the scheme (which was approved for this flow in early May) removes the track access charge. Stone with a high PSV rating is loaded into wagons at Newport Docks before being taken to Radlett for Tarmac. FREIGHTLINER.

"It's the first bulk scheme within the Network Rail [2] discount scheme that's gone through. It's been primarily intermodal." Swan added that business cases are more "nuanced" in the bulk sector compared with containers travelling from ports to terminals.

"Hopefully now we've got one we've got a better understanding of the process," added Wilson, hinting similar flows could benefit in future.

Swan said Tarmac had also had to redesign its Radlett depot to prepare for material arriving by the trainload, rather than lorry.

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References

^ Freightliner (www.railmagazine.com)
^ Network Rail (www.railmagazine.com)