GB Railfreight

GB Railfreight

Industry	Rail
Predecessor(s)	First GBRf (2003-2010) GB Railfreight (1999-2003)
Founded	1999
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Number of locations	12
Key people	John Smith : Managing Director
Services	Freight train operator
Owner(s)	Eurotunnel Group
Parent	Europorte
Website	www.gbrailfreight.com

Class 66 in First GBRf livery

First GBRf logo

GB Railfreight is a British freight train operating company. Formerly called First GBRf, its new owner Eurotunnel bought the company in May 2010.

History

GB Railfreight was founded in 1999 by GB Railways. part of the GB Railways group of companies. Unlike competitors DB Schenker Rail (UK) and Freightliner Group, the company was not formed from parts of the privatised British Railways freight sectors.

In 2003 GB Railfreight was acquired by First Group. The company was renamed First GBRf.

In May 2010, First Group put the business up for sale. Eurotunnel, SNCF and Freightliner were reported as being interested in the company. The company was acquired by Europorte a subsidiary of the Eurotunnel on 1 June 2010 for £31 million. Following the acquisition by Europorte, The company reverted back to its original name of GB Railfreight.

Fleet usage

The Class 08 shunters are used for shunting work in the GB Railfreight depots.

The Class 66 fleet sees use on the main freight flows and the five Metronet liveried 66's are also employed on London Underground maintenance. Railfreight Class 66s were also hired to Fastline Freight to operate their coal flows until their own Class 66's had been delivered.

GB Railfreight use their small Class 73 fleet in the south on engineering trains and other work such as empty coaching stock (ECS) moves for passenger operators. They form the usual motive power (along with 4VEP unit no. 3417) on Bluebell Railway shuttle trains south from East Grinstead.

GB Railfreight also has a number of class 92 locomotives acquired by Europorte prior to the purchase of GBRf. As of March 2011 the 92s are starting to gain the revised GBRf livery.

Locations

GB Railfreight has twelve locations along the eastern side of England. The Headquarters is on Artillery Lane, London. The other elven locations which GB Railfreight own or serve are:

• Doncaster, South Yorkshire
• Port of Felixstowe, Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Ferme Park, Harringay, London
• Hull Docks, Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
• Mountfield, East Sussex
• North Walsham, Norfolk
• Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
• Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
• Park Royal, London (Royal Mail service)
• Tonbridge, Kent
• Tyne Docks, South Shields

Services

The company operates several different types of freight traffic.

• 3 daily Intermodal services from Felixstowe to Hams Hall
• Intermodal traffic from Felixstowe to Selby
• Intermodal traffic from Felixstowe to Doncaster
• Gypsum traffic in northern and southern England with a new service starting to Fiddlers Ferry Power Station
• Infrastructure maintenance trains in East Anglia and South-East England as well as a Loaded Rail service from Scunthorpe to Wellingborough
• Withdrawn and stored stock movements
• New stock delivery movements for Angel Trains and Bombardier
• Maintenance and operation of snowploughs in East Anglia and South East England
• Operation of engineering trains for Transport for London on nine of the twelve London Underground lines
• First GBRf entered the coal market in 2007 and operates coal trains between Tyne Dock and Redcar to Drax Power Station, Immingham to Eggborough, Thoresby and Welbeck to Cottam and West Burton as well as ones between Widdrington and Lynemouth and from Butterwell to Daw Mill
• "Petrochem Carless" tank trains from Parkeston to North Walsham as well as the "Mud Oil" train between Parkeston and Aberdeen
• Aluminium products between Lynemouth and Fort William for Rio Tinto Alcan (previously operated by DB Schenker). In 2011, preserved Deltic 55022 Royal Scots Grey was chartered for working bauxite traffic between Blyth and Lynemouth.
• Operation of deicing trains over the former Southern Region using Network Rail deicing vehicles and GB Railfreight's fleet of class 73s
• Operation of Whitemoor Yard for Network Rail

Fleet details

Class	Image	Type	Introduced	Fleet Size	Wheel Arr	Numbers
Class 08		Shunter	1953	2	0-6-0	08925/08934
Class 09		Shunter	1959	2	0-6-0	09002/09009
Class 66		Diesel locomotive	2002	46	Co-Co	66701-746
Class 73		Electro-diesel locomotive	1966	10	Bo-Bo	73119, 73141, 73204-209, 73212-213
Class 92		Electric locomotive	1993	7	Co-Co	92020, 92021, 92032, 92040, 92044-046

External links

• Official website
  • GB Railfreight Home Page, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2000, http://web.archive.org/web/20000819080833/http://www.gbrailfreight.com/  , archived website