 | |
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail freight transport |
| Predecessor | British Rail |
| Founded | 1995; 30 years ago (1995) |
| Headquarters | , England |
Area served | United Kingdom Germany Poland Netherlands |
Key people | Tim Shoveller (CEO)[1] |
| Services | Bulk freight,Intermodal freight transport andlogistics |
| Revenue | US$785 million[2] |
Number of employees | 2,500+[3] |
| Parent | Brookfield GIC |
| Divisions | Intermodal, Heavy Haul, Maintenance |
| Subsidiaries | Rotterdam Rail Feeding Pentalver |
| Website | www |
Freightliner Group is a rail freight and logistics company headquartered in the United Kingdom. It is owned byBrookfield, a Canadian investment management company andGIC, a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund.
It was originally created after theTransport Act 1968 as Freightliner Limited, a British government-owned company. From its onset, Freightliner was focused on the haulage of international traffic, thus came to centre its activities around Britain's sea ports, often building new multimodal freight depots adjacent to such locations to better capture this business. During the late 1970s, it was reorganised underBritish Rail, and became a part of itsRailfreight Distribution subsidiary during the late 1980s. Work to expand the loading gauge on routes such as theEast Coast Main Line were undertaken, allowing trains hauling larger containers to be routes, were conducted around this time. Numerous domestic depots previously operated by Freightliner were closed during the 1990s in preparation for theprivatisation of British Rail that same decade.
As a consequence of the privatisation initiative, the business unit was reorganised as Freightliner Limited; on 25 May 1996, it was privatised and sold in amanagement buyout, supported by3i andElectra Private Equity for £5.4 million. Freightliner quickly set about modernising and expanding its locomotive fleet, orderingClass 57 andClass 66 locomotives. During 1999, it established theHeavy Haul business; five years later, theLogico service was also launched. By 2014, Freightliner Limited had become the largestintermodal freight transport operator in the United Kingdom,[4] as well as the second largestfreight operating company in the country by revenue, behindDB Cargo UK.[5] It had also expanded its operations into various other countries, including Australia, the Netherlands and Poland. In 2008, Freightliner Group was purchased by Railinvest Holding Company, a subsidiary ofArcapita Bank ofBahrain. In 2015, Freightliner was acquired byGenesee & Wyoming.
The idea of shipping freight in set-sized containers went back to the 1930s in the UK with the adoption of theConflat system. But it wasDr Richard Beeching who, in his reportReshaping Britain's Railways, advanced the concept of containerised freight in the UK.[6]
Beeching proposed 55 depots placed strategically across the UK, serviced by fixed-consist permanently-coupled air-braked trains, with an average journey between depots of 150 miles (240 km) and a shortest distance of 50 miles (80 km).British Railways progressed with the concept, envisaging 40-foot (12 m) length wagons - later increased to 60 ft (18 m) - carrying 8 ft × 8 ft × 8 ft (2.4 m × 2.4 m × 2.4 m) standard sized internationalshipping containers in lengths of 10 to 27 ft (3.0 to 8.2 m), later adapted to 20 to 40 ft (6.1 to 12.2 m). These BR UK-adopted standards were formed on the basis of analysis of then current international intermodal practise, and later adopted as the base of the internationally agreedISO 668. Containers would be loaded at the dedicated inland terminals, usinggantry cranes fortransshipment between road and rail.[7]
During January 1964, the prototype flat wagon was produced byShildon railway works; later that same year, 100 production wagons were turned out fromAshford railway works.[6] The first revenue-earning train ran betweenYork Way/Maiden Lane inNorth London andGushetfaulds inGlasgow on 15 November 1965.[6] Soon adopting the Freightliner name, the first single-shipper train was operated on 20 August 1968, hauling specially-designed 30-foot (9.1 m) containers carrying parts forFord Escort cars that were destined for assembly in plants on the European mainland.[8]
Beeching's original concept envisioned Freightliner servicing a domestic freight market, which by 1968 had resulted in British Railways developing 17 purpose-built depots. However, Freightliner's most profitable routes were those servicing Britain's major ports, specifically traffic to/from continental Europe and Ireland, as well as import/export traffic to the rest of the world. This pattern of profitability was recognised in theTransport Act 1968, whereby Freightliner became a separate listed commercial company wholly owned by the UK Government, but which leased its UK domestic rail transport from British Railways.[6]
By the end of the 1960s, Freightliner operated 28 terminals and 56 routes, however, the company's shift in focus from the original domestic freight market to the international market serviced via ports continued for the next 30 years, with many of the original domestic depots which did not service port traffic either never opening or eventually closing (i.e.: Kings Cross, Sheffield, Swansea, Swindon), whilst investment in seaport depots - specificallySouthampton,Harwich, and thePort of Felixstowe where Beeching's plan had never envisaged a depot - continued at an increasing pace.[6] Part of the consolidation of rail depots was enabled by a greater focus on Freighliner's own HGV network of dedicated lorries, which expanded the servicing footprint of each rail depot, and hence allowed increased efficiency through creating longer and better utilised train routes.[6]
Dudley Freightliner Terminal, 10 miles (16 km) fromBirmingham, on the site of theold railway station was opened in October 1967. This initially proved to be one of the most profitable such terminals in the country, while the Birmingham terminal was ultimately one of the least financially viable. In 1981, due to a lack of international traffic, Freightliner was planning to close Dudley and transfer its function to Birmingham. Given a reprieve in 1983, it finally closed during 1986.[9]
Increasing Irish traffic resulted in a depot being opened at thePort of Holyhead, as well as Freightliner having dedicated operations in bothBelfast andDublin.[6] This also resulted in UK Government granting Freightliner funds to create a dedicated multimodal terminal at thePort of Liverpool to replace its previously lost rail freight traffic, and then further investment in second multimodal terminals at both Felixstowe and thePort of Tilbury.[6]
TheTransport Act 1978 brought Freightliner back inside the control of British Railways, mostly driven by the investment required to ease the rail network'sloading gauge restrictions that hampered the transport of shipping containers 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) and 9 ft (2.7 m) in height.[6]
Freightliner immediately made a major pitch to the BR Board to allow 8 ft 6 in contains to be carried on theEast Coast Main Line (ECML), which involved lowering the track inStoke area[clarify], as well as in Peascliffe andPenmanshiel tunnels (inLincolnshire and theScottish Borders, respectively). The alterations were successfully completed at Stoke and Peascliffe, but Penmanshiel Tunnelcollapsed in March 1979 while work was underway, killing two workers and severing the ECML betweenEdinburgh andBerwick.[10] The extent of the collapse meant that reconstruction was considered to be too dangerous and expensive, so the tunnel was bypassed by a new section of line constructed in an open cutting slightly to the west of the original alignment that opened five months later in late August.[10] Freightliner later withdraw its services on that stretch of the ECML.[6]
During the 1980s, Freighliner became part of BR's 1980s non-bulkRailfreight Distribution (RfD) division, which brought about its first ever allocation of locomotives. After experimenting with other rail operators solutions to coping with the new larger containers, in 1990 BR agreed the order of 700 flat-wagons fromSNCF supplierArbel Fauvet Rail, which could immediately accommodate 8 ft 6inch height containers at 75 mph speeds.[6] This was further supplemented in 1991 with leased flat-wagons fromTiphook.[6] Further experimentation with SNCF-leased Multifret flat-wagons – which could accommodate 9 ft containers at speeds of up to 90 mph (140 km/h) – led to an order of 45 BR-specified "Lowliner" wagons with a deck height of only 720 mm (2 ft 4 in), which allowed the transport of9-foot-high containers on routes approved for 8 ft 6 in containers using the existing wagon fleet.[6]
Although designed to accommodate 9 ft containers over the entire BR network, the slow delivery of Lowliners meant that the entire allocation was utilised instead to carry 8 ft 6 in containers on trains to and fromLondon Thamesport, circumventing the restricted clearances on the formerSouth Eastern & Chatham Railway.[6] The withdrawal ofSealink's dedicated freight service from Holyhead also brought about the end of Freightliner's dedicated service to Northern Ireland via North Wales.[6]
As part of thePrivatisation of British Rail, the loss-making RfD division came under increasing pressure, leading to the immediate closure of theSpeedlink division. Freightliner closed the residual domestic-serving depots, including London's Willesden and Stratford, Bristol (closed in 1992, later reopened in 2014) Glasgow Gushetfaulds, and consolidation of Manchester's traffic on the newly opened Euroterminal (later switched back to the previously closedTrafford Park).[6]
The Freightliner business unit had its assets transferred into a new company, Freightliner (1995) Limited, in preparation for sale.[11] Rejected as not sufficiently profitable byEnglish Welsh & Scottish Railway,[6] on 25 May 1996, Freightliner was purchased in amanagement buyout backed by3i andElectra Private Equity for a sum of £5.4 million.[12] As part of the sale agreement, the UK Government awarded the company a track-access grant of £75 million up until the year 2000.[6]
Freightliner's immediate need was for improved reliability from its locomotive fleet. During 1997, the company commissionedBrush Traction to rebuild of six of itsClass 47 locomotives to create theClass 57, which was fitted with reconditionedGeneral Motors power units and reworked ex-Class 56 alternator groups. The first of these was released in July 1998, and coincided with the unveiling of the new British Racing Green Freightliner livery. After an evaluation period, Freightliner was sufficiently impressed to order a further six in June 1999, with plans for an eventual fleet of 25.[13] However, in actuality, no additional Class 57 locomotives were delivered to Freightliner, largely due to the company opting to place orders for new-builtClass 66s, all being leased fromPorterbrook.[14]
During 1999, Freightliner established its Heavy Haul business. In March 2004, Freightliner launched Logico, providing short-term or one-off spaces on intermodal trains, it is typically active at major British freight hubs such as theSouth Wales International Terminal and thePort of Felixstowe.[15][16] By 2014, Freightliner was actively trying to increase such trains in response to requests for higher service frequencies from ports.[17]
During 2007, Freightliner commenced operations in Poland;[6] its primary activity in the Polish market has been the haulage of aggregates and coal traffic.[18]
On 13 June 2008, Freightliner Group was purchased by Railinvest Holding Company Limited,[19] a subsidiary ofArcapita Bank ofBahrain.[20][21]
On 30 June 2009, Freightliner commenced operations in Australia, having secured an initial contract with Namoi Cotton Co-operative to haul containerised processed cotton traffic inNew South Wales.[22] Over the following six years, it would become an accredited rail service provider in Western Australia, Southern Australia andQueensland, as well as expanding into hauling coal and other agricultural traffic for various customers in New South Wales.[18]
In February 2015, as part of the sale of Freightliner from Arcapita Bank to Genesee & Wyoming, the latter purchased a 95% shareholding which increased to 100% in 2020. At the time of the acquisition, Freightliner's portfolio comprised approximately 250 standard gauge locomotives along with 5,500 wagons, and had a headcount in excess of 2,500 employees worldwide.[23][18]
On 12 November 2015,British Rail Class 47 No. 47830 (D1645), which is operated by Freightliner, was namedBeeching's Legacy to mark 50 years since the first container train ran under British Rail.[24]
In April 2018, Freightliner unveiled its new brand identity during an event at theNEC Birmingham, bringing the brand inline with parent company Genesee & Wyoming.[25]
On 1 July 2019, it was announced that Freightliner's parent company Genesee & Wyoming is to be bought for US$8.4 billion by a consortium includingBrookfield Infrastructure,GIC and Brookfield's institutional partners.[26]
In April 2024, Freightliner UK and Europe split from G&W becoming sister companies, since they were both still owned by Brookfield and GIC.[27]
Freightliner Group has the following subsidiaries:[28]
When Freightliner was privatised in 1996, it only operatedIntermodal container services. These ran from ports includingFelixstowe,Southampton andTilbury to terminals such asBirmingham,Trafford Park inManchester,Stourton (Leeds), Coatbridge (Central Scotland),Ashton Gate (Bristol), andWentlooge (Newport, South Wales). The network has been expanded with additional destinations added.[30] Freightliner also operate an extensive road distribution network with 300 road vehicles. Freightliner also provides drivers for Scottish TransPennine Express services.
In 1999, Freightliner set up Heavy Haul initially operating railway infrastructure trains forNetwork Rail moving ballast, rails etc. before moving into other bulk loads including aggregates, cement, coal, petroleum, scrap metal and waste. Initially run as a division of Freightliner Limited, in 2001 operations were transferred to a new subsidiary, Freightliner Heavy Haul Limited.[31] Reportedly, Heavy Haul operations were hit particularly hard during theGreat Recession that started in 2008, but, the firm was actively acquiring additional wagons and staff in order to accommodate new growth on top of the recovery of demand from many of its established customers by 2015. Furthermore, due to a lack of available slots on most mainlines, there was an increased emphasis on running longer trains rather than routing additional ones.[32]
During April 2006, Freightliner Maintenance Limited was established as a separate entity dedicated to the repair and maintenance of traction and rolling stock.[33] It acquired a maintenance depot and took on 13 staff in Leeds from a former supplier that same year, and was promptly made responsible for the maintenance of Freightliner's 75 Heavy Haul locomotives. Within its first three years, the division had extended its scope into wagon maintenance, and was reportedly consistently achieving a 95% availability rate on the company's 657 coal wagons; it also had engineering teams and mobile workshops stationed in Birmingham, London, Bristol, York, Scotland and Crewe that undertook scheduled maintenance along with unexpected call-outs.[34] The subsidiary competitively tenders for maintenance work, without any preference from the rest of the company. By 2011, Freightliner Maintenance was servicing all 111 of the company's UK-based Class 66 locomotives, and had branched into both track maintenance and rail freight development activities as well.[35]
In October 2021, the company switched most of its electric operations to diesel trains due to the increased cost of electricity.[36][37] One month later, Freightliner announced positive results from an alternative fuel trial it was conducted for its diesel-powered fleet, allegedly halving the carbon emissions incurred.[38]
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During 2006, Freightliner expanded its operations into Poland. A subsidiary company, Freightliner PL Sp. z o.o., was established to bid for contracts hauling coal traffic.[39] The first contract was for coal transport from Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka SA nearBogdanka (Bogdanka-Lublin coal mine) toKozienice Power Station. The service began in September 2007.[40][41] Most of Freightliner PL's services operate on theGdańsk toWarsaw corridor and in southernPoland. In February 2015, Freightliner PL signed a €17.5M contract to lease fiveNewag Gliwice 5 MW (6,700 hp) electric six-axleE6DCF Dragon locomotives from ING Lease. With each equipped with a 520 kW (700 hp) diesel engine for last-mile operation, they are scheduled to be delivered from May to July 2016.[42] Furthermore, Freightliner opted to export 13 of its Class 66 locomotives from the UK to Poland for operations there.[14]
Freightliner began exploring opportunities in the Australian rail market with Freightliner Australia established by April 2007. By June 2008 Freightliner Australia had been accredited as a rail operator in the state ofNew South Wales[43] and by September 2009 also had accreditation inQueensland andWestern Australia. In June 2009, Freightliner Australia commenced operating containerised cotton services fromWee Waa toPort Botany.[44][45][46] In September 2009 Freightliner Australia signed a 10-year deal withXstrata to haulexport coal from the Hunter Valley toNewcastle, commencing in September 2010.[47][48] Under the deal, Xstrata owned the rolling stock with Freightliner Australia providing the engineering, logistics, maintenance and operational support.[49][50] In May 2012 Freightliner Australia commenced operating aWarren to Port Botany service.
In December 2016,Glencore, who had purchased Xsrata, sold its Hunter Valley coal haulage business toGenesee & Wyoming Australia that was also owned by Freightliner's parent company Genesee & Wyoming.[51][52] Freightliner's Australian business was merged into Genesee & Wyoming Australia and the brand retired.
In 2013, Freightliner bought Netherlands-basedintermodal container operatorEuropean Rail Shuttle B.V. fromMaersk Line.[53] This subsidiary, has focused on the cross-border intermodal traffic that runs between the northern European ports ofRotterdam,Bremerhaven andHamburg to various cities across Germany, Poland, Italy and elsewhere in continental Europe.[18] In 2018 the business was sold to Swiss-basedHupac.
Freightliner inherited a fleet of ageingClass 47diesel locomotives andClass 86 andClass 90electric locomotives fromBritish Rail.
In 1997, Freightliner placed an order for sixClass 57 locomotives. These were rebuilt byBrush Traction atLoughborough from Class 47s and fitted with a refurbishedEMD engine and a reconditioned alternator, improving reliability and performance. The first was delivered in July 1998. After an evaluation period Freightliner was sufficiently impressed to order a further six in June 1999.[54]
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Freightliner placed multiple orders for new-buildClass 66s, cumulating in 111 locomotives being delivered to the company.[14] In order to better haul heavier trains, Freightliner directed that several of its Class 66s be regeared, which resulted in a reduced maximum speed in exchange for a higher tractive effort. Once in service, the type proved to be quite reliable, with Freightliner reportedly recording a regular availability rate of 98% along with an average of 70,000 miles between failures, more than double that of the Class 57 fleet.[14] By 2004, the company's Class 66s had replaced all of the Class 47s, as well as the Class 57s after another two years. Freightliner also leased some Class 66s that had been formerly operated byDirect Rail Services.
During November 2007, Freightliner announced an order for 30Class 70s under a project calledProject Genesis.[55] The first two were delivered in November 2009. These have released a number of Class 66s with five going toColas Rail, 13 to Freightliner Poland and four toGB Railfreight.[56]
Freightliner also used their single Class 47 (47830) on driver route learning. In 2024, 47830 was sold toLocomotive Services Limited and was repainted into BR Green.[57]
Freightliner PL ordered sevenEMD Class 66s as well as 432 Greenbrier Eamnoss type coal hopper wagons. These have been supplemented by an EMD Class 66 formerly used byHäfen und Güterverkehr Köln and 12Class 66s transferred from Freightliner's UK operations. A 13th was sent from the UK in October 2012. These units underwent various modifications to allow them to operate on the Polish network.[58]
Freightliner Australia commenced operations using hired inGL class locomotives fromChicago Freight Car Leasing Australia (CFCLA). After a longer-term lease was agreed, two were repainted into Freightliner livery in September 2010.[59] TheWarren service that commenced in May 2012 also used locomotives hired from CFCLA. TwoCF class locomotives were repainted in Freightliner livery. TheXstrata coal contract was operated byXRN class locomotives that were owned by the customer.[60][61] Wagon types are PHEH and PHYH for the coal traffic and CQBY, CQFY and CQYY on the grain traffic.[62]
In January 2015 twoG class locomotives were purchased.[63]
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| Class | Image | Type | Built | Wheel arr. | In traffic | Numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08 |  | Diesel shunter | 1953 | 0-6-0 | 10 | 08077, 08530, 08531, 08575, 08585, 08624, 08691, 08764, 08785, 08891 | |
| 59 |  | Diesel locomotive | 1985-1995 | Co-Co | 4 | 59001/002, 59004/005 | Acquired from Mendip Rail in 2019.[64] |
| 4 | 59101-59104 | ||||||
| 6 | 59201-59206 | Acquired from DB Cargo UK in 2019.[65] | |||||
| 66 | | 1999-2008 | 7 | 66413-66416, 66418-66420 | Acquired fromDirect Rail Services in 2011.66411, 66412 & 66417 exported for use in Freightliner PL | ||
| 81 | 66501-520, 66522-526, 66528-529, 66531-534, 66536-572, 66585, 66587-594, 66596-599 | 66521written off afterGreat Heck rail crash. 66527, 66530, 66535, 66582, 66583, 66584, 66586 and 66595 have been exported to Poland, the operating subsidiary Freightliner PL66573-581 have been sold toColas Rail andGB Railfreight and renumbered 66846-850 and 66738-741 respectively. | |||||
| 19 | 66601-607, 66610, 66613-623 | 66608, 66609, 66611, 66612, 66624 and 66625 have been exported to Poland, the operating subsidiary Freightliner PL. | |||||
| 7 | 66951-66957 | ||||||
| 70 |  | 2009-2011 | 19 | 70001-70011, 70013-70020 | 70012 dropped while being unloaded at Newport; returned to manufacturers and is currently used as a test bed. | ||
| 90 |  | Electric locomotive | 1987-1990 | Bo-Bo | 25 | 90003-90016,90018 90040-90049 | 90018 & 90040 sold by DB Cargo UK to Freightliner in April 2024[66] |
| Total | 182 | ||||||
| Class | Image | Type | Introduced | Wheel arr. | In traffic | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMD Series 66 |  | Diesel | 2006-07 | Co-Co | 13 | 66008-011, 013-015 & 66601-606 |
| Newag Dragon E6ACTd | | Electric (Diesel last-mile slave) | 2016 | 5 | E6ACTd-101 - E6ACTd-105 |
| Class | Type | Introduced | Wheel arr | In traffic | Numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GL | Diesel | 1971/72 remanufactured 2004 | Co-Co | 2 | GL111, GL112 | leased fromChicago Freight Car Leasing Australia |
| XRN | 2010-12 | 30 | XRN001-030 | owned byXstrata | ||
| CF | 2013 | 2 | CF4407, CF4408 | leased from Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia | ||
| G | 1988 | 2 | G533, G535 |
| Class | Type | Introduced | Wheel arr. | In traffic | Numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vossloh G1206 | Diesel | Bo-Bo | 3 | Shunting and local operations | ||
| Vossloh G 2000 | 1 | |||||
| EMD Class 66 | Co-Co | Withdrawn, lease ended | ||||
| BR182 (Siemens ES 64 U2) | Electric | Bo-Bo | 1 | |||
| BR185 (Bombardier TRAXX) | 2 | |||||
| BR189 (Siemens ES 64 F4) | 12 |
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