Tarmac award rail freight expansion contracts
Company supporting UK infrastructure delivery and cutting carbon with new five-year rail freight contracts
TARMAC are increasing their rail freight capacity to help support the delivery of the UK’s infrastructure and road ambitions.
The company – which currently moves around 9 million tonnes of construction materials by rail each year – has awarded a number of five-year contracts to expand its rail freight operations and is creating new strategic hubs that will expand its nationwide supply into key construction markets.
Tarmac say that increasing their rail freight capability will help lower the whole-life carbon footprint of customer projects and also support the company’s plans to reduce transport CO2 levels by 10% per tonne by 2020.
Tarmac’s chief executive officer, Cyrille Ragoucy, said: ‘An enhanced rail freight network supports our strategic growth plans, building on our current capacity to meet customers’ growing requirements for high-quality construction materials for national and local infrastructure projects.
‘This expansion will also support more efficient, sustainable transport and a lower-carbon built environment. We look forward to working with our new partners to implement these contracts.’
Under the new agreements, four companies will deliver rail freight services around Tarmac’s major hubs and rail supply routes, including:
- Colas Rail – awarded the contract for Dunbar cement works in East Lothian
- GB Rail Freight – awarded the contract for aggregates from Swinden, Thrislington and Dry Rigg quarries
- Freightliner – awarded the contract for the Tunstead site in Derbyshire
- DB Schenker – awarded the contracts for Mountsorrel Quarry in Leicestershire, as well as Tarmac’s aggregates business in the West (from depots in Moreton on Lugg, Whatley, Telford and Port Talbot) and London.
