Retailers choose rail
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• Privately owned road! rail company Charterail this week announced significant contract gains from road with more than 12 major retailers and manufacturers signing up with the firm, The companies, including Safeway, have just moved about 2,000 tonnes of freight from road on to two trains travelling at night between Glasgow, Warrington and London. Charterail is working with road operators, including Taylor Barnard, to carry goods to and from the three railheads. A railhead will be set up at Aberdeen by the end of 1992.
Charterail managing director Robin Gisby says: "We've tried to work with a range of customers and will try to build up our volumes. We'll be wanting full train loads sooner or later."
Charterail, which is part owned by engineering company GKN and 22% owned by British Rail, was set up two years ago to be a distribution, rather than a railfreight company. It uses around 120 Tiphook-made piggyback road/ rail semi-trailers.
For the past 18 months Charterail has carried about 300,000 tonnes of goods a year for Pedigree Petfoods. But this latest deal is its first major breakthrough with UK clients.