TruckandTrackSpring2020

www.truckandtrack.com Spring 2020 Truck and Track 69 RAILFREIGHT Victa Railfreight, the Maidstone based provider of operational support services to the rail sector, has won another national award for its ground-breaking local rail operations at Dove Holes quarry in Derbyshire’s Peak District to follow on from similar success in 2019. The company won the Rail Freight & Logistics Excellence category at last week’s Rail Business Awards held in London, a showcase for the very best of the UK rail industry’s people and performance. Victa Railfreight commenced a long-term contract with CEMEX for the terminal operations in June 2018 and since then there has been an increase in the volume of aggregates leaving the quarry with over 2.5million tonnes being loaded for rail movement to receiving depots around the UK for use in a wide range of construction projects, such as house building and road improvements, in 2019. The Victa team has also significantly improved performance of trains leaving the quarry with 99% of trains being presented for right time departure in the last 12 months. The contract employs twelve local staff who were recruited and trained for both shunting and locomotive driving duties by Victa and provide operational cover twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. Neil Sime, Managing Director of Victa Railfreight said “once again we have been successful in winning a national award that reflects the efforts of the Dove Holes team in achieving a significant improvement in performance whilst also increasing the volume of material move by rail for Cemex. With increasing pressure on CO2 and emissions, the increased use of rail for freight movements around the UK is an obvious way of achieving significant environmental benefits and the sort of efficiencies achieved by our partnership with Cemex has provided a model that can be replicated in many other locations to realise this”. Mark Grimshaw-Smith, Head of Rail & Sea for Cemex said “I amvery proud that once again our successful collaboration with Victa and the improved performance that has resulted from their innovative operational model has been recognised. Our aim at CEMEX is to continue to improve the safety of our rail operations and to be a responsible user of the network. We achieved record rail volumes from Dove Holes in 2019 and have set ambitious targets to further increase our rail tonnage going forward, with the aim of lessening our environmental impact by reducing road movements. I know Victa share the same vision and it is a pleasure having them in our team”. Victa Railfreight is currently developing a number of other opportunities that will increase efficiency and encourage increased use of rail freight for customers in a number of commodity sectors. Victa Peaks Again!! GB Railfreight is delighted to announce the appointment of Liam Day as Commercial Director. Liam, currently GBRf’s Head of Contracts, will take over his new role this week. This appointment marks a very exciting time for GBRf who have a turnover in excess of £200 million a year and operate over 1,000 trainloads aweek, moving approximately 23%of theUK’s rail cargo. Liam joined GBRf in August 2014 as Terminal Development Manager, where he was responsible for the maintenance of GBRf depots across the UK, including setting up new facilities. Following a short spell as Head of Estates, Liam moved to the position of BusinessManager(andlatterlyGeneralManager)intheCommercial Department in April 2016 where he was responsible for a team of Account Managers looking after GBRf’s client relationships and contractual arrangements with its Bulk customers. Liam began his career on the railways in Network Rail’s graduate management training programme before joining the Freight and National Passenger Operator (FNPO), where held the positions of Customer Manager and Route Freight Manager. Liam will be replacing Lee Armstrong who is joining the Associated British Ports (ABP). Lee will support Liam until he begins his new role at ABP. John Smith, Managing Director GBRf, said: “I am absolutely delighted to appoint Liam Day to the post of Commercial Director. Liam has played a key role in securing long term contracts with Cemex, Hanson Aggregates and Hanson Cement whilst expanding GBRf’s bulk portfolio to its current worth of circa £75m per annum. “As a business we are entering an exciting time and I will beworking closely with Liam as we continue to grow. “I’d like to thank Lee for his hard work and wish himall the very best for the future.” LiamDay, said: “I am extremely proud to be appointed as GB Railfreight’s Commercial Director. “Since I joined GB Railfreight in 2014, we have experienced huge growth and I have been very fortunate to work with both long standing and new customers to develop rail freight solutions that meet their needs. I am passionate about ensuring the service we offer is industry leading and will be focused on working with our customers to remove cost and inefficiency from their supply chains to ensure GB Railfreight continues to offer a viable logistics solution for years to come. “There are a number of exciting challenges ahead. None bigger than helping to deliver the game changing infrastructure project that is HS2. It is an exciting time to be involved in the rail freight industry and there is no business better placed to step up to the challenge. “I am focused on making GB Railfreight greener and leaner and building on our legacy as a people focused business that goes the extra mile for our customers.” GB Railfreight Announces New Commercial Director LOADS MORE CUSTOMER SERVICE 01543 420 121 www.deker.co.uk