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Direct rescue as DRS wades in
December Issue 2009
 Direct Rail Services, hauled by distinctive blue liveried locos, may be a familiar sight on the network but it is less well known by the travelling public.
All that’s changing as DRS locos help out Northern Rail hauling passenger specials across the water logged north. The national rail freight operator with head offices in Carlisle has stepped in to provide support for a community devastated by flooding.
Damaged roads and bridges are causing travel disruption which in turn is pushing up demand for safe and speedy local rail services. DRS is working with Northern Rail to provide additional capacity operating between Maryport, Flimby, Workington North and Workington. This is as well as providing a comprehensive range of freight services.
Domestic intermodal traffic forms a big part of the business. The reliability and cost effectiveness of the intermodal services combined with DRS expertise in secure and timely delivery has led logistics providers contracting DRS to provide integrated transport solutions for fast moving consumer goods, high value products and time sensitive cargoes.
DRS embarked on its first domestic intermodal project in 2000 and begun operating a regular service between Grangemouth and Daventry. Today, DRS runs over 20 domestic intermodal flows and the numbers are set to increase with new projects coming on stream.
Increasing environmental awareness is attracting big business and retailers, like Tesco, to freight. With daily services running nationwide, DRS estimates it is saving over 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. Rail is safer too. 10,688 lorries were involved in road accidents in 2007 alone.
Rail freight makes a vital contribution to protecting the environment in other ways. DRS has been the sole rail provider to the nuclear industry since 1995 and is the only rail company licensed to convey all classes of nuclear material within the industry.
Operating to the exacting standards of the rail and nuclear industry - one of the world’s most heavily regulated industries - has made DRS the purveyor of excellence in this area of operation. Used nuclear fuel has been transported by rail since 1962, travelling over 10 million miles without any incident involving the release of radioactive material. This is much safer than by road.
When the nuclear industry expands to meet growing energy needs DRS will be ready to help. The specialist expertise gained over the last decade and a half will give the company the competitive advantage.
Looking after the infrastructure is important. DRS has a contract to haul railhead treatment trains (RHTT) for Network Rail to mitigate adhesion problems for trains during the autumn and winter months. This service is vital in ensuring all services on the network operate smoothly and safely on the infrastructure. The company’s delivery and performance record for this vital service is an impressive 99.9% in the last financial year.
In addition, DRS also provides traction for track assessment trains. To further complement these vital rail infrastructure services, DRS has a contract with National Delivery Services (NDS) to provide locomotives and train crew resources for their infrastructure renewal programmes nationwide up to 2013.
With a well maintained locomotive fleet, DRS is able to provide special services, assets and resource hire tailor-made to company’s requirements. Importantly - especially for Northern Rail - DRS can provide locomotives at very short notice. DRS has traincrew depots throughout the UK to staff freight, passenger, charter and possession services.
Complementing its HQ and maintenance depot at Carlisle - Kingmoor Depot, DRS also has its own Crewe depot facilities at Gresty Bridge. In addition to its inhouse maintenance facility, DRS has also recently extended its services with the provision of third party maintenace services for traction and rolling stock to other train operating companies.
With a dedicated in-house training school at the company’s HQ in Carlisle, DRS is able to accommodate the training requirements of its own staff, in particular the training needs of the train drivers to ensure flexibility in responding to customer demands.
Direct Rail Services Limited (DRS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. When it comes to energy DRS is certainly in a class of its own as passengers on the Cumberland coast can see.
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