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 UK

A subsidiary of the Colas Group, we are part of over a hundred years of experience in delivering major innovations across our sector. Every day, thousands of trains run on tracks built or maintained by Colas Rail.

DP World

DP World in the UK is at the heart of Britain’s trading future, providing the right trading infrastructure and smart logistical solutions for our customers.  We believe in the UK market and have the ambition and the resources to boost growth, support businesses, create jobs and improve living standards.

We operate the country’s smartest logistics hubs; two deepwater ports with freight rail terminals at Southampton and London Gateway, a rapidly expanding logistics park on the doorstep of the capital and the economic benefits that come from our participation in the new Thames Freeport, all supported by an advanced software business providing online links to customers and border control. These unique and integrated assets make us the number one choice for supply chain resilience.

DP World in the UK is committed to improving and expanding the nation’s trading infrastructure. Over the last 10 years, £2billion has been invested in the UK – DP World’s largest investment outside the Middle East.

Ermewa

ERMEWA SA is a European leader in railcars leasing (#2 player in Europe and largest fleet in France). The company also provides maintenance, repairs and operations through its European network of certified workshops and partners. Its addresses all segments thanks to its 44,000 railcars, dedicated to transport hazardous and non-hazardous liquids, gaseous, bulk and diversified general cargoes including food and non-food products. With a network of 16 offices in Europe, Ermewa SA provides industrial companies, railway undertakings and freight forwarders with a range of more than 120 different types of railcars.

Ermewa SA invests in railcars on a large scale for new built and refurbishments for specific needs on behalf of its customers. Assets are managed with long-term commitments to customers, leading to performance, efficiency and safety. The company is an ECM (Entity in Charge of Maintenance) certified company since 2010.

Circular economy is in the company’s DNA since 1956 through four concrete actions: maintenance, reuse, refurbishment and recycling. Ermewa SA is certified EcoVadis (Gold medal) for its CSR performances.

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 have strategic locations offering Rail freight with both Tilbury having two intermodal and a Bulk terminal’s and Grangemouth an intermodal terminal. All having recent investment to give capacity both North and South to receive 775m trains.

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.

Greenbrier Europe

Greenbrier Europe covers the activities of Greenbrier’s European operations headquartered in Świdnica, Poland and AstraRail based in Arad, Romania. It is led by an experienced Europe-based management team from both companies. Greenbrier Europe offers high-end freight railcar manufacturing, innovative engineering, repairs and refurbishments and customer service. Greenbrier Europe also performs projects and customer needs from outside Europe, like in the Gulf Cooperation Council nations or the Eurasia region.

Contact us:

Greenbrier.Europe@gbrx.com

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-six 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, a leading provider of integrated road and rail solutions for UK businesses, provides full end-to-end logistical solutions to the country’s best-known brands. The company has expanded its services since its formation in 2001 to offer complete supply chain coverage, now operating in container transport, domestic distribution, warehousing, off dock laden and empty storage, container repairs, freight management, and truck sales.

With a modern fleet of 2,000+ vehicles and an extensive range of over 3,000 trailers, Maritime is ideally placed to serve the UK’s largest manufacturing and consumer conurbations from a national network of 40+ depots, strategically placed at all major ports and rail hubs.

Maritime launched its intermodal division in April 2019 as part of its commitment to increased resource, and to date operates 13 dedicated daily rail freight services with several more to commence from its terminals in Wakefield, Trafford Park, Tilbury, Tamworth, East Midlands Gateway, and Mossend, significantly enhancing UK rail freight capacity and the range of services offered to freight users.

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, services all four major rail operators with intermodal connections to Felixstowe, Doncaster, Daventry and Scotland all operating from 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

RFS Works Ltd is a leading integrated service provider of material handling and movement solutions for the rail freight, marine freight, port freight and construction materials sectors within the UK and Europe.

We provide specialist material handling equipment for loading, unloading, lifting or transporting bulk, containerised or loose materials, offering a “Total Service Solution” to our customers, which includes operating rail, port and intermodal terminals, aggregate logistics hubs, 3plogistics, on-site material processing & movement, in addition to providing all facilities and equipment solutions to suit your material handling and movement requirements.

We operate 24/7-365, across the UK and Europe, providing experienced fully trained staff, the latest low emission equipment, whilst adhering to the best industry practices to ensure the highest standards of safety, efficiency and environmental performance are adhered to.

Our mission:

“To be your preferred integrated services provider and partner of choice through collaboration, trust and mutual respect”…

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 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. Supplementing these wagon fleets is the latest addition to VTG’s portfolio, its Modular Sector which brings a range of highly flexible materials handling solutions to the market.

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 groundbreaking 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 is at the forefront of the push for digitalisation across the rail freight sector, installing its “Connect” GPS tracking and monitoring system to its UK and European fleets, and currently developing and trialling a range of new digital solutions for the benefit of its customers.

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.