Tarmac meet Scotland’s Transport Minister
Derek Mackay MSP visits Aberdeen to see company’s rail freight expertise first-hand
TARMAC have hosted a visit from Derek Mackay, Minister for Transport and Islands in the Scottish Government, at their Craiginches Sidings rail freight depot, in Aberdeen. Mr Mackay learned of the key role the company is playing in Scotland’s rail freight and construction sectors, and conducted the official naming ceremony of Tarmac’s new locomotive, Dunbar.
The Minister was shown around the site by Chris Swan, senior manager rail and shipping for Tarmac, and heard how the company’s new five-year haulage contract with Colas in Scotland, and a new fleet of modern cement rail wagons from VTG and Colas, have enhanced Tarmac’s capacity to meet customer requirements for high-quality construction materials in national and local infrastructure projects.
Mr Swann commented: ‘As one of the UK’s top three private sector users of rail freight, we believe that building capacity into the network is vital to help deliver infrastructure ambitions. Tarmac transport 9 million tonnes of materials by rail across the UK each year, which helps us cut carbon from road vehicles and supports our plans to reduce carbon emissions by 10% per tonne by 2020.’
Mr Mackay said: ‘It was fantastic to be in Aberdeen to see first-hand how rail freight is contributing to some of the largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects in Scotland.’
The Craiginches depot currently delivers a range of materials for major Scottish infrastructure projects, including the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. Tarmac also operate the only cement plant in Scotland at Dunbar, which moves hundreds of thousands of tonnes of material by rail across Scotland and northern England each year.
Pictured at Tarmac’s Craiginches Sidings are (left to right): David Bickers, major projects, Tarmac; Huw Phillips, traction and rolling stock engineer, Colas Rail; Derek Mackay MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Transport and Islands; Chris Swan, senior manager rail and shipping, Tarmac; Fraser Butt, production manager, Colas Rail; and Peter Phillips, driver, Colas Rail.
