A Cumbrian rail freight operator has won a prestigious award for trail-blazing work.
Direct Rail Services won the plaudit at the Rail Freight Group Awards, for its work with Tesco to introduce a refrigerated service,
It won the driving rail freight growth category.
The judges called the launch of Tesco’s first refrigerated rail service, operated by DRS, as a trail-blazer, saying reliably moving chilled produce in large quantities was a step change for rail.
The service will help drive the whole chilled food market to increase its use of rail freight, and its significance should not be underestimated, the judges said.
The new service is Tesco’s first refrigerated rail freight service, distributing chilled goods from Tilbury to Coatbridge by low CO2 rail twice a day, seven days a week.
The 415-mile route uses DRS’s Class 88 bi-mode electric locomotives which can run on electricity and produce zero exhaust and greenhouse gas emissions. This service alone will take at least 17,000 containers off the road each year, saving Tesco 7.3 million road miles and nearly 9,000 tonnes of CO2e.
DRS is part of Nuclear Transport Solutions. Speaking about the award success Seth Kybird, NTS chief executive, said: “I’m thrilled this innovative service has been recognised throughout the industry with this award win and it demonstrates what rail freight can do when we work in partnership with our customers.”
