Retailer takes to rail
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EXCLUSIVE
by Sally Nash • High-street retailer Superdrug is switching from road to rail for the first time in order to move products from Wakefield to Mossend, Scotland.
After carrying out successful trials at the beginning of this month with English Welsh & Scottish Railway, Superdrug is to start transporting up to 15 wagonloads of freight each weekday.
The services will leave Wakefield in the late afternoon, arriving in Scotland the following morning.
Cobra Railfreight is handling the goods at Wakefield and TDG Harris will provide warehousing and handling in Scotland. Superdrug refuses to give more details.
The move follows Safeway's decision earlier this year to start trials with EWS for the movement of ambient products to Scotland.
EWS's contract
with Superdrug comes hand-in-hand with news that the rail freight operator is acquiring National Power's freight business from next April.
As part of the transfer of rail assets and staff, EWS will sign a long-term agreement with National Power to handle its freight services. The electricity generator currently runs six locomotives and employs 50 staff, moving coal and limestone to its power stations.
A spokesman for National Power says that EWS—owned by a consortium led by US giant Wisconsin Central Transport ation—will also be able to use the locomotives for third-party work, improving flexibility and utilisation.
EWS is strengthening its presence in Scotland by joining forces with Tees & Hartlepool Port Authority and P&O North Sea Ferries to introduce an overnight container service between Teesport and Mossend. From Mossend, existing EWS services will link to Aberdeen, Inverness and south-west Scotland.