Freightliner Heavy Haul trucks at speed. Oxenholme Station, West Coast Main Line, Cumbria, England United Kingdom, Europe.
Freightliner Group is a rail freight and logistics company, formed in the United Kingdom in 1995, and now having expanded into Australia, The Netherlands and Poland. It is the second largest rail freight operator in the United Kingdom after DB Schenker Rail (UK). When Freightliner was privatised in 1996, it only operated Intermodal container services. These ran from ports including Felixstowe, Southampton and Tilbury to terminals such as Birmingham, Trafford Park in Manchester, Ashton Gate in Bristol, and Wentlooge near Cardiff. The network has been expanded with additional destinations added. Freightliner also operate an extensive road distribution network with 300 road vehicles. In 1999 Freightliner set up Heavy Haul initially operating railway infrastructure trains for Network 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. Freightliner inherited a fleet of ageing Class 47 diesel locomotives and Class 86 and Class 90 electric locomotives from British Rail. In 1997 Freightliner placed an order for six Class 57 locomotives. These were rebuilt by Brush Traction at Loughborough from Class 47s fitted with a refurbished EMD 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. Various orders were placed for Class 66s with 111 eventually delivered. These had replaced all of the Class 47s by 2004 and the Class 57s by 2008. Freightliner also leased some Class 66s formerly operated by Direct Rail Services. In November 2007 Freightliner announced an order for 30 Class 70s under a project called Project first two were delivered in November 2009.
Size: 5150px × 3438px
Location: Oxenholme Rail Station, West Coast Main Line, Cumbria, England United Kingdom, Europe.
Photo credit: © Stan Pritchard / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: coast, freight, freightliner, graffiti, haul, heavy, line, main, mainline, rail, railway, speed, truck, trucks, west
