DB Cargo UK

DB Cargo UK is the largest rail freight haulier in the UK. It operates freight and infrastructure services, as well as passenger charter trains throughout the UK

The company was born in 1996 when assets from the former British Rail freight business were used to form English Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS). In 2007 Deutsche Bahn AG acquired all shares in the company and in 2016 renamed it DB Cargo UK.

In October 2021, DB Cargo UK announced plans to lease its Mossend EuroTerminal rail freight facility to Maritime Intermodal. The Lanarkshire depot provides intermodal freight transfer between rail and road and is well-placed at the centre of Scotland’s road network, next to the M8 motorway linking Glasgow and Edinburgh. The announcement came two years after Maritime Intermodal took over the lease of DB’s intermodal rail freight facilities in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and Trafford Park in Manchester.

Under the terms of that agreement:

• DB Cargo UK was contracted to run Maritime Intermodal’s rail operations out of Felixstowe and Southampton.

• Maritime Intermodal took on responsibility for DB Cargo UK’s terminals in Trafford Park, Manchester and Wakefield in West Yorkshire, thus strengthening the road haulier’s national network of strategic hubs.

• Maritime Intermodal took responsibility for DB Cargo UK’s existing intermodal customers on its Felixstowe and Southampton services.

DB Cargo UK signed a ten-year contract with Brett Aggregates in 2020. The contract will see DB Cargo UK transport millions of tonnes of sea-dredged products every year from Brett’s marine aggregates terminals in Ipswich, Cliffe and Newhaven.

DB Cargo UK was awarded a five-year haulage contract with Tarmac in 2020. This has welcomed a boost for the rail freight company which already runs a range of services for Tarmac to and from Mountsorrel Quarry in Leicestershire and its aggregates facility in Angerstein Wharf, Greenwich, London.

DB Cargo UK has been awarded a twoyear contract to transport China clay for Imerys. DB Cargo UK also signed a fiveyear ‘hook and haul’ contract to transport supplies of sustainable biomass to Drax. Each train will carry around 1,650 tonnes of sustainable biomass to Drax Power Station, which provides flexible and reliable renewable power for millions of UK homes and businesses.

DB Cargo UK has also secured a new three-year deal with fellow rail freight company GB Railfreight (GBRf) to undertake the maintenance of ten Class 60 locomotives for them as well as providing technical infield support.

In October 2018, UK manufacturing was given a major boost with the opening of DB Cargo UK’s new £6 million steel logistics centre in the West Midlands. Construction took more than twelve months and saw the German-owned freight operator more than double the size of its existing facility in Knowles Road, Wolverhampton, which receives imported steel from as far afield as Holland and Sweden.

The £6 million project was one of the largest investments in rail freight in the past five years and seen as a major vote of confidence in the UK’s continuing ability to trade and attract inward investment post-Brexit.

The new state-of-the-art logistics centre is now used by some of the world’s biggest steel companies including ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel and SSAB; providing a major boost to local businesses that use their products in their manufacturing processes.

In August 2019, DB Cargo UK started work on a multi-million programme of investment to improve track and rail infrastructure at three key sites. The UK’s largest rail freight operator is replacing more than 20 kilometres of track at its depots at Immingham in North Lincolnshire, Rotherham in South Yorkshire and Toton in Nottinghamshire. The investment will further improve the safety and reliability of services.

The campaign intends to support the UK in reaching its climate targets as freight transport plays a key role in production of greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of the campaign is to encourage more businesses to choose rail freight over road haulage for their transport needs, thus assisting in the UK efforts to achieve its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

To encourage more companies to switch from road to rail, DB Cargo UK are asking the government to:

• Set out in primary legislation a legally binding target for future modal growth, thus driving greater collaboration and innovation (as we have seen with decarbonisation).

• Work with the rail industry to incentivise businesses to switch their goods from road to rail.

• Establish an efficient logistics sector which has hubs and terminals in the right places, with strong rail connectivity to help avoid a road-led recovery.

• Commit to investing in the infrastructure required to decarbonise rail freight including a long-term programme of electrifying the railways.

• Ensure that the future industry structure supports rail freight growth and unlock continued third-party investment that will allow rail freight operators to deliver greater long-term economic and environmental benefits.

• Make the best use of capacity on the network, using a benefits-led assessment that considers the relative value of different capacity choices and which maximises the opportunities for getting more freight on each train.

• Upgrade Britain’s infrastructure to make it fit for the digital age, which can allow both freight and passenger trains to run more efficiently.

Chief Executive Officer: Andrea Rossi

Chief Financial Officer: Deb Hardy

Chief Transformation and Digitalisation Officer: Marie Hill

Head of Sales: Roger Neary

Address: Lakeside Business Park, South Yorkshire, DN4 5PN

Tel: 01302 575000