All GB Railfreight articles

  • GBRf 99001 in testing at Crag Mill Loop near Belford
    Rail Business UK

    GB Railfreight owner signs financing package

    2026-01-15T11:00:00Z

    UK: The Infracapital private equity investment arm of M&G has signed a £218m financing package for its GB Railfreight business, refinancing its existing facilities and renewing a capex facility to support future growth.

  • Alvance British Aluminium has take delivery of 20 power tank wagon
    Rail Business UK

    Alvance takes delivery of alumina powder tank wagons

    2025-08-11T04:00:00Z

    UK: Alvance British Aluminium has take delivery of 20 powder tank wagons as the latest step in a project to increase the efficiency of the transport of alumina between the port of Blyth in Northumberland and its Fort William smelter at Lochaber.

  • GB Railfreight locomotive 66 784
    Rail Business UK

    National freight locomotive ETCS fitment programme begins

    2025-07-18T04:00:00Z

    UK: Siemens Mobility has begun installing Trainguard 200 ETCS equipment on a GB Railfreight Class 66 locomotive under the National Freight ETCS Programme.

  • BEX-REST-23102024-01
    Rail Business UK

    Britannic Explorer to be hauled by GB Railfreight Class 99s

    2025-07-14T04:00:00Z

    UK: Luxury travel brand Belmond is to launch its Britannic Explorer sleeper cruise train shortly, offering three-day itineraries from London to Wales, Cornwall and the Lake District.

  • Stadler Class 99 loco delivery (Photo GB Railfreight) (5)
    Rail Business UK

    First GB Railfreight Class 99 locos arrive in the UK

    2025-06-11T15:41:00Z

    UK: The first two of 30 Stadler Class 99 electro-diesel locomotives ordered by Beacon Rail for use by GB Railfreight arrived at the port of Bristol on June 10.

  • GBRf MD John Smith at Waterloo naming 66728 280525
    News

    Don’t tinker with rail freight’s rights, says operator

    2025-06-03T04:00:00Z

    UK: Private freight operator GB Railfreight has urged the government not to tinker with performance, capacity and charging regimes during the process of setting up Great British Railways.

  • Porterbook GBRf Zephir LOK 16.300 depot shunters
    Rail Business UK

    Low-emission depot shunters in services at steel works

    2024-12-24T05:00:00Z

    UK: GB Railfreight has put three Zephir LOK 16.300 depot shunters into service moving steel billets from an electric arc furnace to rolling mills at Celsa Steel’s Cardiff site. They are leased from Porterbrook, which said shunters with EU Stage V compliant diesel engines and able ...

  • GB Railfreight electro-diesel loco on show loco in Berlin (Photo Tony Miles)
    Rail Business UK

    GB Railfreight electro-diesel loco on show in Berlin

    2024-09-25T13:28:00Z

    INNOTRANS: One of the 30 Stadler Class 99 electro-diesel locomotives ordered by GB Railfreight through leasing company Beacon Rail is a highlight of the manufacturer’s presence at InnoTrans, the world’s largest railway industry trade fair which is being held in Berlin on September 24-27. The first ...

  • GBRf Tonbridge Maintenance Hub Opening
    Rail Business UK

    GB Railfreight opens £2·5m locomotive maintenance facility

    2024-09-02T04:00:00Z

    UK: GB Railfreight has opened a £2·5m facility at Tonbridge in Kent which will be used to maintain Class 73, 69 and 66 locomotives. It complements GB Railfreight’s existing sites at Doncaster and Peterborough, and will be operated by partners including EMD, Wabtec and St Leonard’s ...

  • Clayton Class 18 shunting loco (Photo GBRf)
    Rail Business UK

    GB Railfreight deploys diesel-battery hybrid shunting locos

    2024-08-13T04:00:00Z

    UK: GB Railfreight has leased four Clayton Equipment Class 18 Hybrid+ shunting locomotives from Beacon Rail to support its work delivering materials for infrastructure manager Network Rail. Developed by Clayton primarily for industrial use and as a replacement for the ageing Class 08 diesel shunters, the ...

  • Stadler Class 99
    Rail Business UK

    Stadler to show GB Railfreight electro-diesel loco in Berlin

    2024-08-08T11:00:00Z

    INNOTRANS: One of the 30 Stadler Class 99 electro-diesel locomotives ordered by GB Railfreight through leasing company Beacon Rail will be a highlight of the manufacturer’s presence at InnoTrans, the world’s largest railway industry trade fair which is to be held in Berlin on September 24-27. ...

  • GBRf 66781 leaves Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station
    Rail Business UK

    GBRf runs final UK power station coal train

    2024-07-01T11:30:00Z

    UK: GB Railfreight operated what is expected to be the final coal train to a British power station on June 28, delivering fuel from the port of Immingham to Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire. The service carried what is scheduled to be the last shipment to Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar ...

  • Freightliner 66503 with containers[1][1][1]
    Rail Business UK

    ‘Delivered by Rail Freight’ campaign highlights how everyone benefits

    2024-06-14T04:00:00Z

    UK: The Rail Freight Group has launched a ‘Delivered by Rail Freight’ campaign emphasising the sector’s critical role in transporting essential goods. RFG is calling on the next government to make a number of targeted interventions, explaining that funding the electrification of 100 km of connecting ...

  • Zephir depot shunter (Image Porterbrook)
    Rail Business UK

    Zephir shunters to replace Class 08 locos at steel works

    2024-03-28T14:29:00Z

    UK: Leasing company Porterbrook has bought three Zephir LOK 16.300 depot shunters which will be leased to GB Railfreight for use at the Celsa Steel works in Cardiff. The LOK 16.300 is intended as a more sustainable option than the Class 08 diesel shunting locomotives currently ...

  • GB Railfreight JNA X box wagon (Photo Porterbrook)_
    Rail Business UK

    GB Railfreight orders wagons to increase capacity

    2024-03-15T11:00:00Z

    UK: Leasing company Porterbrook is to supply GB Railfreight with 50 JNA-X box wagons for transporting bulk construction materials including ballast and stone. To be built by Greenbrier, the wagons are expected to arrive in the third quarter of 2024. They are intended to replace older ...

  • GBRf and Icomera - Screen Display
    Rail Business UK

    Freight operator trials brake monitoring technology

    2023-11-03T04:00:00Z

    UK: GB Railfreight has completed a four-week test of technology developed in collaboration with Icomera, DG8 and SENSEi which uses battery-powered remote sensors to share status and out-of-tolerance alerts with drivers and control centres during rolling stock pre-checks. Drivers receive sensor data directly to an app ...

  • GB Railfreight JNA X Box Wagon 1
    Rail Business UK

    GB Railfreight takes delivery of 150 wagons

    2023-08-11T14:30:00Z

    UK: The last of 150 wagons which leasing company Porterbrook has ordered from Greenbrier for use by GB Railfreight have been delivered. The companies said on-time delivery represented a significant achievement, as the project was impacted by the pandemic, supply chain disruption, a surge in inflation ...

  • GBRf Health and Wellbeing centre, with CEO John Smith getting a blood pressure check
    Rail Business UK

    GB Railfreight opens health and wellbeing centres

    2023-05-09T05:00:00Z

    UK: GB Railfreight has opened dedicated health and wellbeing centres at its offices in London and Doncaster. The centres are equipped to check hearing, vision and blood pressure, and to undertake electrocardiograms, both for new staff and as part of annual check-ups. ‘These new centres provide ...

  • Class 99 bi-mode locomotive
    Rail Business UK

    Class 99 locomotive maintenance contract awarded

    2023-04-14T09:45:00Z

    UK: Stadler has been awarded a contract to provide full maintenance and servicing of the 30 Class 99 six-axle electro-diesel locomotives ordered by leasing company Beacon Rail for use by GB Railfreight. The service contract will start once the first loco has been handed over in ...

  • Akiem loco for GBRf (Photo: GBRf)
    Rail Business UK

    GB Railfreight to lease Akiem locomotives

    2023-01-10T04:00:00Z

    UK: GB Railfreight has announced a 10-year deal with leasing company Akiem which will see 11 EMD Class 77 and 66 diesel locomotives transferred from Continental Europe to the UK between January 2023 and May 2024. The locos will be modified for use on the British ...