Sponsor Partners

Associated British Ports

One of the UK’s leading ports group, Associated British Ports (ABP) owns and operates 21 ports in England, Scotland, and Wales, and handles approximately a quarter of the country’s seaborne trade. ABP’s 21 ports, together with the other transport-related businesses that constitute the ABP group, form a UK-wide network capable of handling every conceivable type of cargo.  ABP is backed by investment in modern facilities and equipment, and supported by experienced staff.  The group’s other activities include rail terminal operations (Hams Hall), ship’s agency, dredging (UK Dredging Ltd), and marine consultancy (ABPmer).  Each port also offers a well-established community of port service providers.

Colas Rail

Colas Rail is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of railway infrastructure services, constructing and renewing all forms of railways across Europe and the UK.

Our aim is to be the partner of choice for all aspects of rail infrastructure solutions by leading by our values.

We already have an impressive portfolio of award winning work. The size and strength of our capabilities means we can deliver truly integrated solutions.

At Colas Rail we look outwards to our customers seeing things from their point of view.

We respect their view, respond to their suggestions and are proactive in anticipating their needs. We are creative, innovative and collaborative in our approach and we aim to always exceed the expectations of our customers and partners.

We are committed to delivering on our promise, to our employees, the people we work with, our customers and all our stakeholders. We strive for excellence and have a passion for success in all that we do.

DB Cargo UK

DB Cargo UK is the country’s largest rail freight operator. We operate trains which deliver everything from construction materials to build houses to finished vehicles; we transport bulk materials and containerised goods to support manufacturing and retail supply chain across the UK. We also deliver services to maintain the rail infrastructure network throughout the UK. Every day we strive to deliver reliable and sustainable services by putting our customers at the centre of all we do. We value our people; we invest in our assets and respect the planet, and we are leading the next generation of rail freight as we embrace innovation and new technologies. It’s our people, our operational expertise and customer focus which makes us first choice for rail freight in the UK

Ermewa

ERMEWA‘s mission is to guarantee the success of a rail-based supply chain. We pool resources and technologies, and invest for our customers, ensuring them optimal performance and safety.

Forth Ports

Forth Ports is a dynamic UK-based multimodal ports owner and operator. Our ports are strategically positioned and serve as logistical gateways across the UK. We offer businesses a wide range of diverse, port-related services, and help connect the UK with Europe and the rest of the world.

Forth Ports owns and operates eight commercial ports on the Firth of Forth, the Firth of Tay and the Thames: Tilbury (London), Grangemouth, Dundee, Leith (Edinburgh), Rosyth, Methil, Burntisland, Kirkcaldy.

We offer high levels of handling and logistic-related services to customers who are looking for solutions to move goods cost effectively and efficiently, and provide warehousing and storage facilities.

Within and around the Firths of Forth and Tay, Forth Ports manages and operates an area of 280 square miles of navigable waters, including two specialised marine terminals for oil and gas export. We deliver high levels of professionalism in ship handling, pilotage, navigation, conservancy and towage.

The Port of Tilbury is home to the London Container Terminal, the only terminal servicing both short-sea and deep-sea customers; and the London Distribution Park, a 70 acre development just outside the gates of the port, a project being carried out in conjunction with strategic developers, Roxhill.

Forth Ports offers key berthing facilities to cruise operators at our London and Edinburgh ports – www.capitalcruising.co.uk and www.londoncruiseterminal.com.

Frazer-Nash Consultancy

Frazer-Nash is a leading systems and engineering technology company.

We understand the challenges facing the rail freight sector, and deliver technical solutions that enable freight organisations to overcome their most difficult problems. Our consultants help to develop, enhance and protect your critical assets, systems and processes – from information and people, to terminals, rolling stock and the environment.

Whether you’re looking to increase your terminal and network capacity, to make progress in your journey towards decarbonisation, to better manage your assets, or to develop your ‘last mile’ capabilities, we can help.

With detailed knowledge across a broad range of disciplines, we bring the transferrable technologies, skills, experience and best practice that we have developed in other areas and use them to benefit the rail freight sector.

We help you to:

• Develop and implement new technologies – from ‘smart’ condition and performance monitoring that detects issues earlier; to complex modelling to optimise your maintenance regimes; to automation tools that support your inspection activities.
• Get the most out of your assets – delivering better understanding of your plant, interpreting your asset data to inform your fact-based decisions, and maximising your assets’ safety, performance and reliability.
• Make the transition to predictive and preventative maintenance – to enable you to increase efficiency, optimise reliability, reduce repair times, and deliver better value to your customer.
• Reduce risks to your staff and to the public – providing specialist expertise in electrical safety, cyber security and other areas to assure your high impact, safety-critical systems; and developing technological and person-focused solutions that reduce the risk of human error.
• Increase your sustainability – taking steps to minimise the environmental impacts of rail freight, work towards decarbonisation of rolling stock, and to leave a lasting, positive legacy for future generations.
• Maximise your capacity – using sophisticated depot modelling techniques to aid your understanding of your capacity and how best to optimise it.

With over 800 employees, Frazer-Nash works from a network of eleven UK and four Australian locations.

Freightliner

Freightliner, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W), is an established award-winning rail freight haulier, operating across the UK, Continental Europe and the Middle East.  Offering customers a wide range of rail freight solutions to cater for the requirements of a diverse market sector, Freightliner provides a safe, reliable and cost-effective rail freight partnership. As a leading provider of intermodal and bulk freight haulage, with depots and terminals spread nationwide, Freightliner operates services across the entire UK rail network as well as offering rolling stock and infrastructure maintenance solutions.  Setting new standards of reliability, flexibility and customer service, Freightliner continues to invest in locomotive technology, wagons and terminal infrastructure to provide the quality of service that our customers expect.

Hutchison Ports (HPUK)

As well as being the largest container port in the UK, handling 4 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent units) annually, the Port of Felixstowe is also the country’s largest intermodal rail freight terminal offering more intermodal rail services, to more inland destinations, than any other UK port. Seventy-two freight train movements per day are handled at the Port’s three intermodal terminals with over 1 million TEU passing through the facility in 2017. The Port of Felixstowe is part of Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd which also includes Harwich International, one of the UK’s leading ferry, passenger and multi-purpose ports and London Thamesport. a port of entry for short-sea container traffic as well as infrastructure projects in the South East.

Malcolm Rail

An integral part of Malcolm Logistics, Malcolm Rail offers daily round trip Anglo-Scottish services between DIRFT, Mossend and Grangemouth. Our three terminals offer secure loaded and empty container storage. Our road and rail services offer totally integrated supply chain solutions including over five million sq ft of warehousing which is largely bonded and rail connected.

Maritime Transport

Maritime Transport is the UK’s leading intermodal transport operator, providing complete supply chain coverage through a multitude of bespoke services including container transport, domestic distribution, rail, cargo handling and warehousing, freight management, and truck sales.

As one of the largest privately-owned operators in the country with a modern fleet of 1,600+ vehicles and an extensive range of over 3,300 trailers, Maritime is ideally placed to serve the UK’s largest manufacturing and consumer conurbations from a national network of 33 container and transport depots, strategically-placed at all major ports and rail hubs.

In 2019, Maritime extended its rail offering with the launch of Maritime Intermodal. To date, and with several more to commence, the company operates seven dedicated daily rail freight services from its terminals in Wakefield, Trafford Park, Tilbury, Tamworth, and more recently, East Midlands Gateway in Castle Donington, which is capable of handling up to sixteen 775metre-long freight trains daily and provides storage capacity for over 5,000TEU.

Maritime’s unrivalled solutions, combined with its personal approach and drive to meet customer requirements each and every time is what sets it apart from the rest, as the business continues to place itself at the forefront of the logistics industry, focusing on innovation, quality, and added value.

PD Ports

PD Ports is one of the UK’s major port groups with a reputation for excellence gained from decades of experience and a highly skilled workforce. With headquarters in the north of England, PD Ports operates from locations across the UK. Teesport, owned and operated by PD Ports, has rail connections to Felixstowe and Scotland calling at its onsite intermodal rail terminal.

Porterbrook Leasing

Porterbrook has been at the heart of Britain’s railway for over 25 years. 

We currently have almost 4,000 vehicles on lease or on order and we own almost a third of the national passenger fleet. Every day our trains safely travel over a million miles, enabling 1.5m passenger journeys.  

Since privatisation, we have invested £3bn in new passenger and freight vehicles, and we are looking to invest a further £1bn in UK rail over the coming years. At the same time we spend £3m every week with the UK rolling stock supply chain, which supports almost 7,000 jobs.

Innovation is at the heart of Porterbrook’s whole life asset management approach. In collaboration with our customers and supply chain partners, we are constantly exploring how new technologies can meet the needs of rail users, both today and tomorrow.

RFS Works Ltd

Rail Freight Services (RFS) is the premier integrated service provider of material handling and movement solutions for the rail, marine and construction sectors within the UK and across Europe.

For loading, unloading, lifting or transporting bulk, containerised or loose materials, RFS offers a total-service solution to its customers, which includes operating customer terminals, road transport and on-site material movement, in addition to facilities and equipment services to suit your material handling and movement requirements.

Suez Group

Part of the global SUEZ group, SUEZ employs more than 5,000 people in the UK and since 1988, has provided innovative and environmentally responsible solutions to waste and water management for households, local authorities, industry and commerce. SUEZ believes waste is a valuable resource. The organisation’s goal is to help create a circular economy in which nearly all waste materials are given a second life through re-use, recycling or energy recovery.

Touax Rail

Touax Rail Ltd is the second largest lessor of intermodal railcars in Europe, which currently manages a varied range of more than 10 500 wagons/platforms, such as intermodal, car- and coil – carrying, sliding wall wagons, hopper and powder railcars for transporting heavy goods.

Victa Railfreight

Victa Railfreight provides a wide range of operational & logistics services to rail freight operators, customers and suppliers. We hold a UK wide Freight Train Operators Licence specifically aimed at achieving efficiencies and providing new business opportunities in collaboration with other freight operating companies.

VTG Rail UK Ltd

VTG Rail UK Ltd  is the UK’s leading rail wagon leasing organisation, pioneering innovation in rail freight rolling stock, setting the standard for customer service and the leading the development of industry standards. As part of VTG AG, Europe’s leading wagon hire and rail logistics company, it has substantial experience and resources underpinning its UK operations.

Following its acquisition and integration of the Nacco CIT business, VTG’s UK fleet now comprises around 4,500 wagons including a “standard freight” sector for dry and solid products, a tank sector for petroleum and chemical products plus an intermodal sector covering a comprehensive range of container platforms including the award winning Ecofret, and Megafret platforms suitable for International traffic via the Channel Tunnel.

New wagons are added regularly to meet emerging market demands and specific customer requirements, as part of a continuous improvement and replenishment process. In addition to its ground breaking Ecofret wagon, saving money by eliminating wasted space on maritime intermodal trains, VTG has received awards for its introduction of high efficiency, aluminium bodied cement wagons plus the first fleet of UK biomass wagons. More recently, the company led the industry in “re-purposing” redundant coal hoppers, optimising them for aggregates traffic following the downturn in the ESI coal market. VTG’s latest major development is the introduction of a fleet wide GPS tracking and monitoring system known as “Connect” which is currently being fitted across all of its European fleets. This easily installed, solar powered technology will allow any wagon to be monitored in real time, giving desk top access to a host of valuable information including location, speed, dwell times and stoppages as well as monitoring parameters such as temperature and shock.

In addition to providing the UK’s most comprehensive fleet of purpose designed and built rail vehicles on flexible leasing arrangements, VTG is also an accredited “Entity in Charge of Maintenance” and acts as both Keeper and ECM for all of the wagons in its fleet to ensure full regulatory compliance. With the ability to offer tailored solutions including purchase and leaseback, and a bespoke wagon management package for private owners, VTG remains your number one choice in rail wagon leasing.