The British rail freight operation of Germany’s Deutsche Bahn successfully operated a 606 meter-long train with 34 wagons, compared with the usual 21 wagons.
DB Cargo UK, the British freight rail operation of Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, successfully piloted a 660 meter-long “jumbo” train of 34 wagons from ABP Port of Cardiff to Acton in London last week.
The jumbo train uses 13 more wagons than a regular train, which typically uses only 21 wagons.
“Usually only 21 wagons are used but using 60 percent more wagon capacity makes it more efficient and definitely more environmentally friendly,” said Cemex UK Rail & Sea Manager Mark Grimshaw Smith.
During the train trial, 2,300 metric tons of limestone was carried from Cemex’s Wenvoe and Taff’s Well quarries, the rail line said.
“We hope that we can use this type of jumbo train on other parts of the rail network where we have railheads in quarries and materials are coming into conurbations such as London where the roads are most congested,” said Smith.
“Over the next few weeks we plan to operate even heavier trains on this route,” said David Fletcher, head of major projects at DB Cargo UK. “This will allow us to collect all the necessary performance data so we can work with Network Rail to identify suitable paths for a regular service.”
While the train has to utilize two locomotives due to the gradients in the Severn Tunnel, Fletcher said “the use of one path to move a longer train also releases capacity for other freight services on a busy network.”
DP Cargo, the main freight rail operation in Germany, recently upgraded its locomotive fleet with 60 new locomotives from Siemens for $295 million. The new locomotives will be used for DB Cargo’s cross-border European operations, the rail line said.
DP Cargo UK pilots ‘jumbo’ freight train
