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DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd.

Type	Rail industry (freight)
Industry	Rail
Predecessor	English, Welsh and Scottish Railway
Founded	2009
Headquarters	Doncaster, England, UK
Key people	February 20091 Alain Thauvette, Chief Executive David Kerr, Commercial Director Michael Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer Gerry Skelton, Human Resources Director Geoff Spencer, Director Resources
Services	Bulk freight and intermodal logistics
Parent	Deutsche Bahn AG via DB Schenker
Subsidiaries	Euro Cargo Rail
Website	http://www.rail.dbschenker.co.uk

DB Schenker Rail (UK), previously known as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS), is the largest British rail freight company. It was created as a result of the break-up of British Rail during the 1990s and is now a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG.

EWS was established by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central Ltd in 1996. Canadian National bought Wisconsin Central in 2001, and held approximately 30% of the company.

English, Welsh and Scottish Railway was acquired by Deutsche Bahn AG on 28 June 2007.² Initially it was announced that EWS would not be rebranded,³ but on 1 January 2009 EWS, along with DB's other existing freight organisations Railion and their freight logistics organisation Schenker AG were re-branded DB Schenker.⁴

Contents 1 History 1.1 English, Welsh and Scottish Railway 1.1.1 Rail Express Systems 1.1.2 Trainload freight companies 1.1.3 Contract signed 1.1.4 Plans announced 1.1.5 Financial 1.1.6 Other acquisitions 1.1.7 Purchase by Canadian National Railway 1.2 Acquisition of EWS by Deutsche Bahn 2 Traction and rolling stock 3 High speed freight 4 See also 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External links

History

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English, Welsh and Scottish Railway

Rail Express Systems

The first stage of the creation of EWS occurred at 0500 on Saturday 9 December 1995 when it was announced that Rail Express Systems had been sold to a consortium led by Wisconsin Central ⁵ for £25.7 million and renamed North & South Railways Ltd. Included in the sale were 164 locomotives, 677 vans, depots at Crewe, Bristol Barton Hill, Cambridge and Euston Downside (London), and 800 staff. North & South Railways confirmed that it was bidding for all three of the former BR trainload freight companies: Trans-Rail, Mainline Freight and Load-Haul.

Trainload freight companies

The UK Government had hoped to sell the three trainload freight companies as separate businesses to encourage competition. Few bidders were interested in individual companies because of the threat of competition from the other two, but the outright purchase of all three was an attractive proposition.

By December 1995, there were just two bidders in the running for the trainload companies:

• Wisconsin Central
• FirstFreight - Load-Haul’s management backed by Denver-based rail haulier OmniTRAX

Contract signed

In early 1996 it was announced that Wisconsin Central/North & South Railways was the preferred bidder, and on 24 February 1996 the contract was signed. Later that day the formal handover from British Railways Board (BRB) chairman John Welsby to Wisconsin Central President Ed Burkhardt took place at a ceremony at London’s Marylebone station.

Plans announced

Burkhardt announced several plans for the following two years:

• Order 250 new heavy freight locomotives - EWS bought 250 Class 66 locomotives
• Condemn most of the Class 37s and ‘ageing and unreliable’ Class 47s
• Withdraw all the remaining Trainload Class 20s and Class 33s
• Close “a very great many” diesel depots
• Merge the three freight companies with Rail Express Systems
• Reinstate stored Class 08s if increased business warranted it
• Rename the new company ‘London, Central & Scottish Railway’, or similar

Financial

£225.15 million was paid for the three trainload freight businesses, which carried 88.7 million tonnes of freight the previous year with a turnover of £559 million. Some critics said that the figure paid was less than the 10% of their replacement value, estimated at an astonishing £3 billion, as they were the only profitable national freight businesses in Europe.

Other acquisitions

Subsequently, Wisconsin Central/North & South Railways purchased Railfreight Distribution ⁶ and National Power's railfreight operation.

Purchase by Canadian National Railway

In 2001, Canadian National Railway (CN) bought Wisconsin Central and so became overall owners of EWS. CN said the deal was purely to obtain Wisconsin's 2,850 miles of track rights in the northern United States and Ontario and that its foreign interests would be sold. ⁷

Acquisition of EWS by Deutsche Bahn

On 28 June 2007, it was announced at a press conference held by Deutsche Bahn AG (DB), EWS and Spanish rail forwarder Transfesa that DB was to acquire all the shares in EWS as soon as contracts were signed.² Initially it was announced that EWS would not be rebranded,³ but on 1 January 2009 EWS, DB's existing Freight organisation Railion and their freight logistics organisation DB Schenker were re-branded DB Schenker.⁸

As part of a formal launch of the new brand,⁹ a Class 59 locomotive 59206 was unveiled in full DB Schenker branding at a ceremony at the National Railway Museum in York. Class 66 number 66152 became the second loco to receive the new DB Schenker colour scheme. The next loco's to receive the colours of DB Schenker were Class 37's, 37419 and 37670.¹⁰

Traction and rolling stock

This section requires expansion.

Image	Class	Use	Image	Class	Use
	08	Used for shunting and minor freight work. Limited to 15 mph.		59	Used for aggregate transportation from quarries in the West Country. Some Class 59s have been seen on railtours around Yorkshire. Limited to 75 mph.
	60	Used for slow coal transport like to Fiddler's Ferry in Widnes, Cheshire. They are also seen on some heavy haul coal and aggregate services. Limited to 60 mph.		56	Most have been withdrawn and stored/sold by 2006.
	47	Most have been withdrawn and stored/sold by 2004.		37	Most have been withdrawn and stored/sold by 2004, although a small fleet is to be retained for specific duties. Limited to 80 mph.
	92	Built for use in Europe as well as the UK, they've never left the Chunnel. They are very capable of hauling heavy loads and reliable. One has been seen pulling a coal train consisting of two Class 66s, a Class 60 and a Class 67. This locomotive can be used on 25 kV AC overhead lines and also DC 3rd rail lines due to its dual voltage system. Limited to 90 mph (75 mph on freight trains).		67	DB Schenker's fastest locomotives, with a max speeds of 125 mph, four (67004/007/009 & 011) however are limited to 80 mph due to brake modifications for hauling the ScotRail Sleepers north of Edinburgh. These locos are solely operated by EWS. Locomotives 67005 and 67006 also operate the 'Royal Train'. They also are used for freight and weed-killing trains. They have a high axle-load, and are subject to severe speed restrictions in some areas.
	66	Used for almost all workings. They are used on most heavy haul workings and certain railtours. Limited to 75 mph.		90	EWS's Bo-Bo mixed-traffic electric locomotives has a max speed of 110 mph, although apart from occasional railtours on the West and East Coast Main Lines or on loans to 'Virgin Trains' they usually operate at 75-80 mph. They are used all over the country for freight work on electrified lines. Their most notable passenger operation is the First ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper between London Euston and Scotland on the WCML where the trains are formed of sixteen coaches - the longest passenger train length in the UK.

High speed freight

DB Schenker Rail is working to enable Class 92-hauled trains to operate freight services on the High Speed 1 line through Kent to the Channel Tunnel. The project has received funding from the European Commission and it is anticipated services will begin in early 2010.¹¹¹²

See also

• Rail transport in Great Britain
• History of rail transport in Great Britain
• Euro Cargo Rail
• EWS Company Train

Further reading

• Sutton, Philip (August 2007). "Burkhardt on EWS". Rail Express 135: 32–7. 

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: DB Schenker Rail (UK)

• DB Schenker Rail official website

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