CASTLE CEMENT ON THE RIGHT TRACK
A 10-year rail wagon hire contract has been signed between VTG Rail and Castle Cement. It will allow the cement manufacturer to eliminate 35 lorry movements for each new trainload of material.
The agreement is for the supply and maintenance of an initial quantity of 15 newly- built, aluminium bodied rail vehicles as part of Castle’s “Rail to Scotland” project. They will be delivered in November and more will be ordered if demand for Castle products in Scotland continues to increase.
This initiative will see the re-introduction of bulk cement movements by rail between Castle’s Ribblesdale production facility and Scotland. It came to an end in 1992 when freight trains were no longer allowed to use the Settle to Carlisle line. Now the cement will be delivered to a newly built storage and distribution site at Mossend Railhead near Glasgow.
“This move allows us to further improve our distribution and better serve our customers in Scotland, at the same time as being very environmentally friendly,” said Castle Cement’s managing director designate Mike Eberlin.
“Scottish customers will benefit greatly from the new facility, which replaces the existing facility at Coatbridge, also in North Lanarkshire.”
Castle has signed an agreement to lease land within the Peter Stirling Limited Moss End railhead redistribution centre with three 1,100 tonne capacity silos for cement storage, a despatch office and a room for the use of the company’s delivery drivers.
“A significant reduction in the number of lorry movements is a small but important part of a continuing programme to maintain Castle Cement’s proud reputation as an environmentally conscious cement manufacturer. In total we may be able to eliminate 450 lorry movements each month,” pointed out Mr.Eberlin.
The agreement builds upon VTG Rail’s ten-year relationship with Castle Cement, which already hires 64 specialised pressure discharge wagons for the movement of bulk cement from its Ketton plant to central London.
Ian Shaw, VTG’s Bulk Fleet Manager comments ‘The majority of people recognise the need to produce and transport cement in the quantities necessary to meet the growing demands of Britain’s economy. However, there is an increasing concern and expectation that such activities are undertaken in an environmentally responsible manner. VTG Rail is pleased to be working with Castle Cement to ensure that this balance is achieved’
Currently being built by Feldbinder Spezialfahrzeugwerke GmbH at Wittenberg Germany, each wagon has an 80 tonne payload and will feature pressure discharge facilities and be fitted with ‘track friendly’ bogies. An innovative aluminium body construction has been utilised to minimise weight and improve load capacity.
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