GB Railfreight to intensify intermodal services with high-capacity flat wagons
GB Railfreight, the British third-largest rail freight operator, has received the first sets of Ecofret2 triple flat wagons. The innovative and high-capacity wagons will allow the company to intensify its intermodal services in the United Kingdom.
VTG Rail UK, the British subsidiary of the Hamburg-based international leasing company, delivered the first batch of Ecofret2 triple flat wagons to GB Railfreight (GBRf). The high-capacity rolling stock was built by WH Davis, an independent wagon manufacturer. In total, VTG Rail UK is committed to supplying 84 triple wagon sets to the British rail freight operator.
GB Railfreight will deploy the innovative flat wagons across its intermodal network consisted of 21 services. “They will make GBRf more and more competitive as we look to grow our business in the months and years to come,” said David Golding, the company’s asset director. In particular, the new rolling stock will intensify container transport from major ports, such as Felixstowe and Southampton, to the hinterland stations.
Ecofret2 wagons
Ecofret2 flat wagons were designed for VTG by Lloyd’s Register Rail to make container rail transport as effectively as possible, especially for 40-foot units. As of today, it’s quite a typical picture in Britain when a single 40-foot box is carried on a 60-foot-long flat wagon. Such kind of transport create empty and wasteful spaces on the wagons.
“These state-of-the-art wagons remove empty spaces that are often present in other wagons, but which are inefficient and cause turbulence during the journey, thus reducing fleet efficiency,” GBRf stated. Moreover, the rail freight operator intends to reduce its carbon footprint with the help of the new wagon fleet.