GB Railfreight inks biomass haulage contract

GB Railfreight (GBRf), one of the largest rail freight operators in the UK, has announced it has signed a rail haulage contract with Lynemouth Power (LPL), to build 50 new purpose built high capacity biomass hopper wagons, following a successful tender submission.

The new hoppers are estimated to start their service on the 1st October 2017. GBRf plans to run 27 trains per week, delivering over 37k tonnes per week. The trains will run between Port of Tyne and Lynemouth Power Station.

The contract comes as part of a ten-year investment project for the power station. GBRf previously demonstrated its reliability along this route whilst running coal services to Lynemouth power station when it was owned by RWE npower. The last coal train into the station was April 2015.

John Smith, MD of GB Railfreight, said: "We are delighted to announce this new contract with LPL, as a result of the commitment and dedication from our team. GB Railfreight has grown extensively over the past few years, and new contracts with companies such as LPL are an indication of the positive outlook for our company’s future.

“This new contract shows the strength of our company, at a critical time for investment in the rail freight industry, we are very proud we are able to continue to grow in this environment.

“We are extremely pleased sign this deal with LPL, we look forward to working closely with them to help deliver power to the UK National Grid.”

The announcement follows the completion of a deal between GBRf and PUMA energy last month, to run fuels services from Interminals Immingham East.

This story was written by Liz Gyekye , editor of Bioenergy Insight.