1. In a narrow side street just 50
metres or so from the vintage
boutiques at Spitalfields
Market is GB Railfreight’s (GBRf)
headquarters, or at least it is
until December 12. The company
is moving on, both literally and
figuratively, taking on bigger
premises in Old Broad Street.
People are at the centre of GBRf - a
point that managing director John
Smith (pictured) was keen to stress.
‘We’re a very cultural-based business.
This is about the people that work
here,’ said John, in an interview in
which he asked almost as many
questions as he answered, showing a
genuine curiosity in people.
GBRf is one of the lesser known but
most important success stories of
railway privatisation. The company
started from scratch in 1999 and is not
a BR-successor freight company. In
2003 it was purchased by FirstGroup
who in turn sold it to Eurotunnel
subsidiary Europorte in 2010. An
extensive portfolio includes E.ON,
Network Rail, EDF Energy, UK Coal,
Merrill Lynch, Tarmac and Drax.
GBRfiscloselyinvolvedintheCrossrail
project,theLondonUnderground
andHitachiRail.NextyearGBRf will
behaulingSerco’snewprestigious
CaledonianSleeper,providing
locomotives,guardsanddrivers.John
Smithheadsateamof600people
operatingover1,000trainloadsaweek,
moving15percentofBritain’srailfreight
with99percentreliability.
This month, the final seven new Class
66 locomotives from Electro-Motive
Diesel are expected from the USA. The
arrival of 21 new locomotives in the
past six months has been coupled with
the start of a haulage contract with
Network Rail, which has included the
supply of railhead treatment trains in
Kent and Sussex, and preparations
for the start of a new contract with
Aggregate Industries on 1 January.
Flexibility
Smith says the company has grown
by around 15 per cent in the last
year thanks to a combination of new
business and greater volumes from
existing customers.
‘Some markets have gone off,’ says
John. ’Coal has been quieter, mainly
because of the fact that it’s slowly
getting marginalised but equally it’s
been warmer… The mild autumn so
far reduces coal demand and we’ve
expanded in other areas. We’ve
expanded in aggregates particularly.’
According to John, it is the company’s
flexibility that has led to it winning
work in numerous different areas of the
rail freight market recently. It was this
flexibility that John believes attracted
Hitachi to partner with GBRf for the
Class 800/1 testing and driver training
programme. In March 2015, the first
pre-series trains will arrive from Japan.
ItwillbethefirsttimethatGBRfhasbeen
involvedinthecommissioningoffullfree
runningofanewtrain,butthecompany
isn’tnewtotransportingtrainsaround
thecountry.GBRfiscurrentlydelivering
SStockTubetrainsfromBombardier’s
LitchurchLanesiteinDerbytothe
capitalandhasare-occurringrole
deliveringtrainsforoverhaul.
‘We’ve always done stuff like that,’
says John. ‘We feel it panders to what
we’re good at because we’re flexible
and you need to be when you’re doing
those moves because they’re far from
certain.’
A target area for GBRf is container
traffic. In November, the operator ran
its first service through the Channel
Tunnel from Dourges to Barking for
GBRailfreight
Report by Marc Johnson
GoesforBroadApproach
FREIGHT38 | RailStaff | December 2014

2. its parent company Europorte France
using Class 92 locomotives that it had
purchased from Europorte earlier this
year. There are opportunities to expand
both internationally and within the
domestic market if the infrastructure
can accommodate it.
SaysJohn,‘Themainrestrictionon
usrunningmoreintermodalservices
iscapacity.Bothinports,onNetwork
Railandhowthatcapacityiscontrolled.
Sowe’vegotabigpushontotryand
movemorecontainersonrailnextyear
butsomeofthosechallengesarenotso
muchcustomerbasedashowthewhole
thingisstructuredwithintheindustry.’
High-speed rail is one project which
promises to create more capacity
for freight. For John, HS2, and the
proposed trans-Pennine corridor,
would be a positive step for the sector.
‘IthinkI’mpragmatic.Whetheritbe
HS2orHS3,itwillcreatecapacity,’he
said.‘Theopportunityforusalsois
buildingitandbeinginvolvedinbuilding
it.We’vebeenheavilyinvolvedwith
Crossrail.We’vemovedallthemuck
awayfromWestbourneParktunnel.
We’vejustbeencontractedtodothe
fitout.’
John, a dedicated Sunderland
supporter, began his career 37 years
ago as a technician apprentice in
York. His CV includes stints as a
project engineer working on the Mark
4 coaches and a fleet engineer for
InterCity Cross-Country before he
established GBRf in 1999. Although he
looks back fondly at the quality of the
training he was offered by British Rail
(BR) as a graduate, he is quite happy to
be on the other side of the fence.
‘My life was spent closing things
and rationalising things in BR days,
which is basically driven by the lack of
funding from government, whereas this
has all been about buying things and
employing people.’
With new contracts won for 2015, the
challenge next year will be to retain
what GBRf already has.
SaysJohn,‘Wehaveanumberof
contractsthatcomeupforrenewal
through2015into2016.Thisapplies
toalloperators.Yourbusinessis
underpinnedbyyourcontractual
workload.Ifalltheworkthatwe’vedone
thisyeariscontractedfor10yearsthen,
mannafromheaven,I’djustgohome
andplaygolf.Butactuallythere’salotof
hardworktodoaroundcontractsthat
aregoingtobeupforrenewal.’
GBRf’s new Class 66s mark the end of
an era. From 2015, no more Class 66s
will be built for Europe. New rules on
emissions have put paid to any new
units of what has become a mainstay
of the UK rail freight fleet. So why not
invest in low-emission vehicles and
where does the company stand on
innovation.
‘Wehaveinnovatedinsomeareas,but
we’renotanengineeringbusiness,’said
John.‘We’reanoperatingbusiness,we
operatetrainsandthat’swhattheraison
d’êtreofthiscompanyis.
‘We’re not necessarily in the driving
seat around creating innovation like
that, but we do involve others with
helping us to look at it… We have been
examining various initiatives. We’re
not one for suddenly experimenting
because it impacts on performance
and your ability to deliver.’ He added,
‘You would hope that the supply
market would come up with these
innovations of their own accord, and
we could just buy off the shelf and it
would all be great. Unfortunately it
doesn’t quite work like that so you find
yourself having to kick-start it.’
John escapes the complex world of
rail logistics by spending time with his
wife and two sons. Although when your
better half of 20 years is also a Network
Rail employee, leaving it behind can
sometimes be difficult.
Under Smith, GBRf has helped
kick-start the rail freight resurgence
in Britain. A broad approach will see
the company further expanding next
year. Sunderland may have received
an 8-0 thumping from Southampton
in October but GBRf is on safer ground
and looks set to record many wins this
season and beyond.
December 2014 | RailStaff | 39FREIGHT