STOB.L Regulatory News (STOB)

20 Jan 2009 07:00



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 £3 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 £3 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:

  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.