High Volume Intermodal Rail Freight

inter

Intermodal is the fastest growing sector of the UK rail freight

market. Working as part of a series of positive partnerships

with several leading UK road transport businesses, DRS

has become a major player in the sector, providing true

door-to-door intermodal logistics for many of the nation’s

most successful retailers.

Whilst many road transport businesses battle for road

haulage, the leading names turn to DRS for the provision

of regular long distance freight solutions. DRS is currently

operating 64 trains each week on behalf of Stobart Group,

The Malcolm Group and The Russell Group; increasing

efficiency, cutting pollution and taking millions of lorry

miles off the UK’s congested motorway network.

Traditionally, containerised rail freight serviced only the major

ports, like Felixstowe and Southampton, collecting primary

loads bound for inland container ports in London, Leeds,

Manchester and the Midlands.

Domestic Intermodal Freight has emerged as a rail freight sub-

sector in response to the needs of road hauliers and the major

supermarkets they service. In the past, large-scale road

transport of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) between

the Regional Distribution Centres (RDCs), and from RDCs to

local DCs, meant huge numbers of trucks were travelling

regular long distance routes day-in-day-out. DRS’ intermodal

solution now transfers large volumes of freight onto rail for the

bulk of the journey, providing a seamless interface between

road haulage and transhipment by rail that reduces pollution

and road congestion, whilst delivering cost savings.

With an exceptional 95% on-time delivery performance record,

DRS has built high levels of confidence in the reliability of rail as

part of the JIT supply chain. As a result, where once only primary

volumes were transported by rail, now an ever-increasing

number of secondary flows - including critical RDC-to-store

deliveries - utilise rail as a core element of the logistics solution.

Key Benefits of the Intermodal Solution

Reliable:Consistent just-in-time deliveries that avoid motorway holdups

Cost-effective:Reduced DC-to-market costs

Environmentally responsible:Cuts pollution and reduces carbon emissions by two-thirds

Reduces congestion:Removes millions of lorry miles from the UK’s busy roads

driving uk intermodal freight

D I R E C T R A I L S E R V I C E S i n t e r m o d a l s o l u t i o n s

1

Working with leading UK logistics businesses and their clients

Stobart Group Tesco plcHighland SpringCoca-Cola Enterprises

The Malcom Group ASDAIKEADiageo

The Russell Group MorrisonsTate & LyleMars

DRS provides a complete package of intermodal rail freight solutions.

The DRS partnership with Stobart Group began in 2006 heralding the launch of Stobart Rail, which represented a groundbreaking

transport solution to reducing carbon emissions and the rising cost of fuel. Over time, Stobart Group and DRS have strengthened

their partnership to develop a collection of daily rail freight services on behalf of Tesco and a wide variety of FMCG manufacturers.

The trains are based on specifically commissioned containers that are packed at the customer site. The containers are then

transported to the railhead on Stobart skeletal trailers, where the containers are transferred to rolling stock for transport to their

destination. Return trips on the above routes frequently have highly cost-effective capacity available.

About Stobart Group

Stobart Group is a FTSE listed company employing over 6,000 people at 50 sites across the UK. Both highly successful and one of

the country’s best known companies, Stobart is an officially recognised business ‘Superbrand’. The company is a national leader in

the multimodal logistics, warehousing and biomass fuel sectors, as well as operating in the property development, ports, airports

and civil engineering sectors.

Rail Freight Route Frequency Rail Freight Route Frequency

Inverness/Mossend 6 per week each way, Monday-Saturday Grangemouth/Aberdeen 7 per week each way, Sunday-Saturday

Daventry/Mossend 6 per week each way, Monday-Saturday Daventry/Wentloog 6 per week each way, Sunday-Friday

Daventry/Barking & Tilbury 6 per week each way, Sunday-Friday

Return trips on the above routes frequently have highly cost-effective capacity available.

S T O B A R T G R O U P a n d D I R E C T R A I L S E R V I C E S

DRS works in close partnership with Stobart Rail Freight and its major name FMCG clients.

working with stobart rail

For further information on Stobart Group services, contact: Liam Martin, Stobart Rail Freight, Mersey Multimodal Gateway, Destoto Road, Widnes WA8 0PE. 0151 424 6724 / liam.martin@stobartgroup.com

T H E M A L C O L M G R O U P a n d D I R E C T R A I L S E R V I C E S

DRS and The Malcom Group have been working together since 2001.

For further information on Malcolm Group services, contact: Group Head Office, Brookfield House, 2 Burnbrae Drive, Linwood, Renfrewshire PA3 3BU. 01505 324321 / www.malcolmgroup.co.uk

DRS and The Malcolm Group began working as partners in 2001. The services offered continue to go from strength-

to-strength. In 2008, Malcolm Rail, a division of The Malcolm Group, took over the management of the Daventry

International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) handling, amongst many others, DRS trains on a daily basis.

Malcolm Rail now provides a range of intermodal services which handle UK and European rail/road movements for

customers in the manufacturing, logistics and retail sectors including: ASDA, Ikea, Diageo, Sainsburys and British Gypsum.

About The Malcom Group

Originating as a family-owned business in the 1920’s, employing over 2,000 people, The Malcolm Group has become the

leading provider of Logistics, Construction and Maintenance services in the UK. Predominantly working across the UK,

strategic partnerships have enabled The Malcolm Group to expand their offering and customer base into Europe.

Rail Freight Route Frequency

Grangemouth/Elderslie 5 per week each way, Monday-Friday

Grangemouth/Daventry 7 per week each way, Sunday-Saturday

Daventry/Mossend 5 per week each way, Monday-Friday

Please contact The Malcom Group for information on cost-effective return trip rates.

partnering the malcolm group

DRS and John G Russell started working together in 2006 with the introduction of two weekday services between Daventry in the

Midlands and Coatbridge in Scotland. DRS provides trains and rolling stock to support the Russell Group’s UK Intermodal

offering for a series of major name customers including Morrisons, Tate & Lyle and Mars.

About The Russell Group

The Russell Group is family owned, based in Scotland and has 40 years experience of developing partnerships within the road, rail,

sea and air sectors. JGR partnered with DRS in developing the Inverness rail freight terminal, which they operate on behalf of DRS.

They also own and operate the Barking rail freight terminal.

Rail Freight Route Frequency

Daventry/Coatbridge, Train 1 5 per week each way, Monday-Saturday

Daventry/Coatbridge, Train 2 6 per week each way, Sunday-Friday

Daventry/Barking/Purfleet 5 per week each way, Tuesday-Saturday

Return trips on the above routes frequently have highly cost-effective capacity available.

T H E R U S S E L L G R O U P a n d D I R E C T R A I L S E R V I C E S

DRS has worked with The Russell Group and its leading FMCG clients since 2006.

on-track with the russell group

For further information on Russell Group services, contact: Ken Russell, John G Russell (Transport) Limited, Containerbase, Gartsherrie Road, Coatbridge ML5 2DY. 01236 703343 / sales@johngrussell.co.uk

Overall Length 14.75mPlatform Length 13.82m

Width 2.43mDeck Height 0.73m

GLW Containers

Maximum 20’ Capacity 2x 19.0 tonneMaximum 30’ Capacity 1x 28.5 tonneMaximum 40’ Capacity 1x 34.0 tonneMaximum 45’ Capacity 1x 34.0 tonne

Internal Container Length 14.75m

Container Height 2.9m

Internal Loading Height 2.13mRear Opening Door Height 2.07mDoor Opening Width 2.4m

Internal Length 13.6mSide Opening width 12.4m (between pins)

Internal Container Length 13.6m

ApertureHeight2.07m

ApertureWidth2.44m

Overall Length 24.40m

OverallHeight3.90m

Width2.65m

The Lowliner Fleet

DRS’ Lowliner fleet now opens up almost the entire United Kingdom rail network to highly efficient containerised freight services. ALL the

height restricted routes classified in the past as ‘W gauge’ are now available for freight using containers 2.9m high by 2.5m wide up to 45

feet in length. Regions now open include North Wales, South Wales, South West England, Northern Scotland, the West Highlands and the

Irish Republic and Northern Ireland via the leading Holyhead and Stranraer ferry routes, as well as key sea ports including Cardiff, Portsmouth,

Thamesport and Workington are now open to containerised loads carried by rail as a result of DRS’ introduction of Lowliners. The new

Lowliner offers maximum flexibility in the range of containers it can carry. 2.9 metre high containers may be 20 feet, 30 feet, 40 feet or 45

feet in length. 20 foot containers may also be doubled up on the wagon.

The Standard Fleet

The specially designed lower profile containers used on the Stobart Rail services are alternative solution to the issue of limited head room,

allowing the trains to use even small branch lines with restricted height. DRS works ion close partnership with Stobart Rail, The Malcom

Group and The Russell Group to operate 64 trains every week on behalf of the logisitcs companies’ major name clients utilising the standard

flatbed/low profile container configuration.

Class 66 Motive Unit

D I R E C T R A I L S E R V I C E S t h e f l e x i b i l i t y t o m e e t e v e r y n e e d

DRS operates a fleet of environmentally friendly Class 66 Locos, matched with standard and lowliner rolling stock.

Dispatch Point

The dispatch point may be a Regional Distribution Centre,National Distribution Hub, a Trunking/Cross-Docking site or aManufacturing Facility. Here containers are loaded withproducts ready for transport to the nearby Railhead, which inthe case of Daventry is on-site. Alternatively there may bemultiple local dispatch points, such as a series of a suppliers,each of which will pack and dispatch their own containers.

Destination

At the end of the train journey thecontainers are re-loaded on trucks towingskeletal trailers for the final leg of theirjourney. Whilst some major customersown their own inland port, frequently therail destination is a purpose-built railheadclose to the end user. DRS have utilisedtheir freight handling expertise to develop‘fit-for-purpose’ railheads on behalf of anumber of clients, including customerswithin the demanding nuclear industry.

Final Delivery

The final reception point may be aLocal DC, a Manufacturing orProcessing facility. Recently thereliability of rail over long distanceroutes has also led a majorretailer to choose rail for trunkingloads between Grangemouth andAberdeen, serving remote storesites in Northern Scotland. Thissolution avoids the holdups, costsand pollution associated withroad haulage on the notoriouslycongested roads of the region.

Road Transport

A short road journey transports the pre-packedcontainers from the dispatch point to the railheadwhere they are loaded onto DRS rolling stock.This leg of the route may be removed completelywhere the railhead is on-site at the dispatch point.

The DRS Train

The bulk of the journey between the original dispatch point and thefinal destination utilises rail. Trains typically carry around containers,cutting costs, congestion and carbon emissions. An addedadvantage of utilising rail for regular, high volume freight routes isreliability. DRS are officially recognised as the most punctual railfreight operator, achieving an impressive 95% on-time record.

Efficiency

Utilising a rail-based intermodal transport solution for regular, highvolume freight transport delivers a broad range of positive benefits.Transfer to rail cuts fuel usage by around two thirds compared toroad transport, as a result it delivers huge reductions in carbonemissions and pollution, whilst also offering significant cost benefitsand helping relieve congestion on Britain’s busy roads.

the intermodal solution

Dungeness

Tilbury/Purfleet

Willesden

Stowmarket

SizewellDaventry

Southminster

Devonport

Crewe

ValleyWidnes

Bridgwater

Southampton

Winfrith

BerkeleyCardiff

YorkHull

Seaton

Heysham

Barrow

Sellafield/Drigg

Workington

Carlisle

HunterstonCoatbridge/Mossend

Grangemouth

Inverness

Aberdeen

Torness

Dounreay

High Volume Intermodal Rail Freight

Direct Rail Services LimitedKingmoor Depot, Etterby Road, Etterby, Carlisle CA3 9NZ.

01228 406 600www.directrailservices.com

Photography by kind permission of Jonathon Bird, Ian Grierson, F. Glover, John McPherson, Graeme Elgar, Mark Baczkiewicz, Ralf Edge and Peter Robinson.

©2013 Direct Rail Services Limited. Designed/produced by www.carnewhitney.com 01228 596 895

Corporate Social Responsibility

Direct Rail Services is committed to working in a sustainable andresponsible manner. Our operations are carried out with the highestlevel of consideration for our stakeholders, their community andthe environment.

During the course of its business, DRS aims to manage theimpact upon these groups through safe, secure, reliable andenvironmentally sound systems of work. Approved managementand quality systems ensure that our suppliers adhere to our highsafety, quality and environmental standards.

Outstanding staff development and employee relations sets DirectRail Services apart from the industry – recognising the workforceas the company’s greatest asset.

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ISO 9001ISO 14001BS OHSAS 18001

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Number 22772