84-548: DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway ) is a British rail freight company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Doncaster , England. The company was established by Wisconsin Central in early 1995 as North & South Railways , successfully acquiring and merging five of the six freight companies that were sold during the privatisation of British Rail . On 25 April 1996,
168-642: A de facto monopoly in its segment of the market as it operates hundreds of trains per day, while all competitors' long-distance services combined amount to no more than 10–15 trains per day. Additionally DB Fernverkehr operated a few long-distance coach services throughout Germany, called IC Bus , which since have been terminated. DB Regio AG is the subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn that operates passenger trains on short and medium distances in Germany. Unlike its long-distance counterpart, DB Fernverkehr , it does not operate trains on its own account. Traffic
252-574: A 26-storey office tower designed by Helmut Jahn at the eastern end of the Sony Centre and named Bahntower . As the lease was to expire in 2010, DB had announced plans to relocate to Berlin Hauptbahnhof , and in 2007 a proposal for a new headquarters by 3XN Architects won an architectural competition which also included Foster + Partners , Dominique Perrault and Auer + Weber . However, these plans were put on hold due to
336-514: A 6 km (3.7 mi) route between Nuremberg and Fürth . The Deutsche Reichsbahn operated from 1920 through the Weimar and Nazi eras until 1949, when it was split between East and West Germany into two successor entities, Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn , respectively. They remained separate throughout the Cold War era division of Germany, and joined after the 1989 fall of
420-709: A bid to counter 'unprecedented' market changes, these being a combination of factors, including changes in the British Government's energy policy that had resulted in the early closure of coal-fired power stations, hence DB Cargo UK ran 78% fewer coal trains compared to 2015, while UK steel volumes were also dropping as the industry had been impacted by high energy prices; this resulted in DB Cargo UK running 33% fewer steel trains from 2015. However, Werner recognised that "overall UK steel demand remains stable". During 2017, DB Cargo UK announced an after-tax loss for
504-423: A consequence, many stations had their mail services permanently withdrawn as they were redirected to a series of hubs across the country; the final mail train services departed King's Cross, Euston, Liverpool Street and Paddington stations on 27 September 1996. As a result of the privatisation of British Rail during the mid-1990s, RES was put up for sale to the private sector. Following a competitive bidding process,
588-490: A consulting contract with Islamic Republic of Iran Railways ; both projects were abandoned after the United States imposed new sanctions against Iran and said firms doing business with Iran would be barred from doing business with the United States. The California High-Speed Rail Authority 's (CHSRA) board approved on 15 November 2017 an early train operator contract with DB Engineering & Consulting USA. The firm
672-645: A contract to service Virgin CrossCountry 's Class 220 / 221 fleets at Bristol Barton Hill, Eastleigh, Newcastle, Old Oak Common and Three Bridges . Since its inception, EWS had provided locomotives for the Caledonian Sleeper . It inherited the contract from Rail Express Systems to provide Class 37 and 47s north of Edinburgh Waverley . During March 1998, it also began hauling the services south from Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central to London Euston with Class 90s . Class 67s replaced
756-533: A different label, for example "ABR" for trains operated by Abellio , though on platforms, trains and maps or timetables issued by the local transport authority overseeing regional train services, these abbreviations usually do not appear. DB offers two different pricing models for single or return tickets for routes that include long-distance trains: Ticket prices generally rise degressively over distance, particularly for Sparpreise and Supersparpreise. Therefore, putting connecting local trains or excursions planned for
840-705: A further fourteen members of the class; this work reportedly extended the fleet's operational life by 15 years. During January 2013, the overhaul programme was described as an "upgrade" that created a new fleet of "Super 60's". The programme involved the complete overhaul, but not total replacement, of the locomotive's engine, as well as the refurbishment of various elements, including the traction motors, bogies, control gear, cabs, and electrical systems. In 2018, DB Cargo sold ten Class 66 locomotives to GBRf for an undisclosed sum, comprising eight stored and two active locomotives many with significant engine defects. In 2019, it also sold all of its 59/2 fleet to Freightliner following
924-589: A local transport authority or tariff associations might brand the trains in a different way than DB does. For example, in the Nuremberg region, RE and RB trains are not differentiated, but called R instead. In some regions, such as Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg , private operators do use the RE and RB labels, in others, such as Saxony , they do not. In online and print information systems of DB, private trains officially labelled RB and RE by their operators, might get
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#17327655604291008-461: A modified Class 92 locomotive travelled from Dollands Moor to Singlewell using the TVM430 signalling system for the first time. The first of five planned test trains ran as a loaded container train from Hams Hall , West Midlands to Novara , Italy on 27 May 2011. DB planned to upgrade an additional five Class 92 locomotives to allow them to run on High Speed 1, making a fleet of six. In July 2011,
1092-410: A new livery of red, with a grey upper band, and light blue and grey flashes. The light blue and grey flashes represent a set of stylised eagle's wings. The sector had maintenance depots at Crewe, Bristol Barton Hill , Cambridge and Euston Downside . Rolling stock was also maintained by other sectors at Heaton and Liverpool Edge Hill . Amongst the more unusual duties that fell under RES' umbrella,
1176-403: A new rail freight operation, Maritime Intermodal . In 1988, British Rail 's (BR) freight operations were split into two divisions Railfreight Distribution (RfD) and Trainload Freight (TLF). RfD took over BR's Freightliner and Speedlink services and general wagonload and trainload services, excluding coal, petroleum, aggregates and metals. BR's bulk trainload services were handled by
1260-582: A small fleet of Mark 2 and Mark 3 carriages, some of the latter form the DB Cargo Company Train . DB Cargo's primary maintenance depot is Toton . The electric fleet is maintained at Crewe . With a modern fleet requiring less maintenance, many of the depots EWS inherited have closed. Some of its other facilities including Bristol Barton Hill , Cambridge , Eastleigh and Newcastle were transferred to fellow Deutsche Bahn subsidiary LNWR (now Arriva TrainCare ). During 2001, EWS commenced
1344-431: A state, and Interrail are also available. These Länder-Tickets offer group tickets, where up to five people can travel on a single ticket. Regular travellers usually use weekly, monthly or annual passes for their connection or region; day or sometimes weekend passes exist in local transport primarily. The price system applies to some international destinations from Germany similarly, when bought at Deutsche Bahn, but it
1428-464: A trial run of wagons carrying curtain walled swap bodies built to a larger European loading gauge was run from Dollands Moor , Folkestone to east London. From 11 November 2011, a weekly service using European sized swap bodies has run between Barking, London and Wroclaw, Poland using High Speed 1. On 2 March 2016, DB Schenker was rebranded as DB Cargo UK . On 17 October 2016, new DB Cargo UK CEO Hans-Georg Werner announced plans to cut 893 jobs in
1512-609: Is a semi-independent division of Deutsche Bahn that operates long-distance passenger trains in Germany. It was founded in 1999 in the second stage of the privatisation of German Federal Railways under the name of DB Reise & Touristik and renamed in 2003. DB Fernverkehr operates all Intercity Express and Intercity trains in Germany as well as in some neighboring countries and several EuroCity and EuroCityExpress trains throughout Europe . Unlike its sister companies DB Regio and DB Cargo , DB Fernverkehr still holds
1596-429: Is divided into various organizational units that perform their tasks with subsidiaries. DB Personenverkehr is the unit that manages passenger travel within Germany. Originally called Reise & Touristik ( English : Travel and Tourism), this group is responsible for the managing, servicing and running of German passenger services. This group is divided into DB Fernverkehr and DB Regio . DB Fernverkehr AG
1680-537: Is expected that up to ten locomotives will receive the blue livery. EWS inherited a fleet of 1,231 locomotives from its British Rail acquisitions. This fleet, which was mainly diesel powered, had an average age in excess of 30 years; furthermore, roughly 300 were inoperable, having been cannibalised for spares. To enable the company to offer lower pricing to customers, EWS needed to reduce operating costs and increase availability, and quickly concluded that this goal would require new traction to be procured. During May 1996,
1764-430: Is often advisable to compare prices of the respective train operators involved. [REDACTED] Media related to Deutsche Bahn at Wikimedia Commons Rail Express Systems Rail Express Systems (RES) was a sector of British Rail . This sector was responsible for transport of mail and parcels, including the travelling post office trains, as well as taking over charter operations from InterCity and haulage of
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#17327655604291848-677: Is ordered and paid for by the Bundesländer (states) or their respective regional train operation supervisors. Some states have awarded long-term contracts to DB Regio (usually 10 to 15 years), in others, DB Regio's operations are decreasing, in North Rhine-Westphalia, their market share is expected to be lower than 50%. DB Regio rail services are divided into several regional companies: The bus services consist of 25 bus companies, which have subsidiary companies themselves. The Transport and Logistics division acted in
1932-617: Is owned by the Federal Republic. By the Constitution , the Federal Republic is required to retain (directly or indirectly) a majority of the infrastructure (the present DB Netze ) stocks. In 2008, it was agreed to "float" a portion of the business, meaning an end to the 100% share the German Federal Republic had in it, with a plan that 25% of the overall share would be sold to the private sector. However
2016-679: Is the U.S. arm of Deutsche Bahn AG. As early train operator, DB Engineering & Consulting will assist CHSRA with planning, designing and implementing the state's high-speed rail program. Deutsche Bahn purchased Arriva in August 2010 off the London Stock Exchange . To satisfy the European Commission , Arriva's German operations were rebranded Netinera and sold. As of July 2022, Arriva operated 15,700 buses and 800 railway vehicles in 14 European countries, mainly in
2100-771: Is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin , it is a joint-stock company ( AG ) and the largest railway company in the world. DB was founded after the merger between the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1994 after the unification of Germany and has been operating ever since. Deutsche Bahn
2184-567: Is the second-largest transport company in Germany, after the German postal and logistics company Deutsche Post / DHL . DB provides both long-distance and regional transport, serving around 132 million long distance passengers and 1.6 billion regional passengers in 2022. In 2022, DB transported 222 million tons of cargo. The group is divided into several companies, including DB Fernverkehr (long-distance passenger), DB Regio (local passenger services) and DB Cargo (rail freight). The Group subsidiary DB Netz also operates large parts of
2268-675: Is what the GO in Infra GO stands for in German: ' G emeinwohl o rientierte.' DB Engineering & Consulting , which is responsible for construction supervision, construction planning and maintenance , is also assigned to this department without being part of a business area. Via its subsidiary DB Engineering & Consulting, DB signed a memorandum of understanding with Iranian rail operator Bonyad Eastern Railways (BonRail) in May 2017 and shortly after
2352-607: The BahnCard discount cards, which are available as BahnCard 25 (25% discount on Flexpreis and Sparpreis), BahnCard 50 (50% discount on Flexpreis and 25% discount on Sparpreis), and BahnCard 100 (unlimited travel on all Deutsche Bahn trains, a few private train companies and also in many local transport associations). Other special tickets, such as the Länder-Tickets ("state tickets"), which give unlimited journeys on local trains and in many transport associations within
2436-571: The Berlin Wall , and German reunification in 1990. On 1 January 1994 Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn were merged to form one company, Deutsche Bahn , the successor organisation to the Reichsbahn. At the same time, Deutsche Bahn adopted its current logo and DB abbreviation. Kurt Weidemann modernised the logo and typographer Erik Spiekermann designed a new corporate font known as DB Type . When Deutsche Bahn
2520-603: The British Royal Train and also has interests in Eastern Europe . It is possible to obtain train times for any journey in Europe from Deutsche Bahn 's website. Trans-Eurasia Logistics is a joint venture with Russian Railways (RŽD) that operates container freight trains between Germany and China via Russia . The railway network in Germany dates back to 1835 when the first tracks were laid on
2604-484: The English, Welsh & Scottish (EWS) brand was unveiled. On 10 July 1996, in accordance with the new branding, the holding company's name was changed to English, Welsh & Scottish Railway Holdings Limited . In October 1996, Loadhaul and Mainline Freight were merged with Transrail Freight, and employees transferred to Transrail Freight, which was then renamed to English, Welsh & Scottish Railway Limited. One of
DB Cargo UK - Misplaced Pages Continue
2688-575: The London Distribution Centre or the Princess Royal Distribution Centre , at Stonebridge Park , near Wembley . Furthermore, RM commissioned ABB to manufacture 16 four-car British Rail Class 325 electric multiple units, which were designed exclusively for the transport of mail. During RES's existence, there were numerous operational changes made in the use of Britain's railways in regards to
2772-531: The Ministry of Defence . The sale, which included 157 locomotives, was concluded on 12 March 1997. At this point, EWS controlled 90% of the rail freight market. Railfreight Distribution was renamed English Welsh & Scottish Railway International on 1 December 1998. The new company had a vast portfolio, comprising in excess of 900 locomotives, 19,000 freight wagons, and 7,000 employees. Track access charges were renegotiated and, following 1,800 job redundancies,
2856-515: The Office of Rail Regulation fined EWS £4.1 million for engaging in anti-competitive practices in the coal haulage business; at the time, the company held a virtual monopoly on such traffic, and its practices had led to official complaints from both Enron and Freightliner Heavy Haul in the early 2000s. On 28 June 2007, Deutsche Bahn announced it had agreed to purchase EWS, subject to receiving regulatory approval, in exchange for £309 million. At
2940-539: The Royal Train . RES had been created out of a policy of Sectorisation , its functions previously being undertaken as an integral element of British Rail in the 1980s. Initially known simply as the Parcels Sector , it was decided to re-brand it as Rail Express Systems during late 1991. The entity's management team sought to improve the economics of its operations and to better satisfy its customer's needs,
3024-649: The Trainload Freight division. During 1991, the Rail Express Systems brand was created to handle mail and postal services. After the passing of the Railways Act 1993 , five rail freight companies were formed from RfD and TLF. On 1 April 1994, TLF was split into three separate geographical businesses: Trainload Freight North East, Trainload Freight West and Trainload Freight South East, with each initially given existing contracts, based on
3108-610: The Travelling Post Office trains, and the contract to haul the Royal Train . A fleet of 164 locomotives and 677 postal vans were included along with depots at Bristol Barton Hill , Cambridge , Crewe and London Euston . Then, on 24 February 1996, British Rail's three trainload freight companies, Loadhaul , Mainline Freight and Transrail Freight were acquired for £225 million. The sale included 914 locomotives and 19,310 wagons. All four companies were subsequently merged into North and South Railways, nullifying
3192-587: The United Kingdom over widespread cancellations of railway services and numerous delayed services operated by Deutsche Bahn in Britain, under its Northern brand. This resulted in Britain's Minister of Transport, Chris Grayling, setting up an enquiry into whether the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary had breached its contractual agreement to provide railway services in the north of England. He warned that if
3276-589: The Venice-Simplon Orient Express . EWS have previously hauled passenger trains for Anglia Railways , Arriva Trains Northern , First Great Western First North Western , National Express East Anglia , Valley Lines , Virgin CrossCountry Virgin West Coast and Wrexham & Shropshire . Deutsche Bahn The Deutsche Bahn AG ( IPA: [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈbaːn] ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG )
3360-646: The financial crisis of 2008 , and the Bahntower lease was extended. Construction of the new headquarters building was started in 2017 under the title " Cube Berlin " according to the designs by 3XN. Finished in February 2020, the Cube will house the legal offices of Deutsche Bahn, but not become the main headquarters. The second step of the Bahnreform (railway reform) was carried out in 1999. All rolling stock, track, personnel, and real assets were divided between
3444-684: The Class 37s and 47s in the early 2000s. This contract was taken over by GBRf in March 2015. During April 2003, EWS purchased the Rail Charter Services business from William McAlpine along with its 70 Mark 1 carriages . By October 2014, EWS Class 67s had started hauling passenger services on behalf of Arriva Trains Wales , Chiltern Railways and First ScotRail . Class 67s are also used as Thunderbird rescue locomotives for London North Eastern Railway . EWS also provides locomotives for
DB Cargo UK - Misplaced Pages Continue
3528-581: The English, Welsh & Scottish EWS brand was revealed and implemented over successive months. By the end of March 1997, it controlled 90% of the UK rail freight market, operated a fleet of 900 locomotives and 19,000 wagons, and had 7,000 employees. During the late 1990s, EWS invested heavily into rolling stock renewal, procuring a large number of British Rail Class 66 diesel locomotives. EWS reduced staff numbers, aiming to reduce numbers by around 3,000 when merging
3612-468: The German railway infrastructure , making it the largest rail network in Europe. The company generates about half of its total revenue from operating rail transport , with the other half of the business comprising further transport and logistics businesses, as well as various service providers. The company generates further revenue through public transport contracts and support services for infrastructure maintenance and expansion. The Deutsche Bahn Group
3696-620: The Netherlands (3) and Spain (8). During September 2010, twenty Class 60s were offered for disposal by DB Schenker. Many marked for disposal had sustained catastrophic failures or were otherwise in a poor condition. During November 2010, the firm announced that a batch of 20 Class 60s would be overhauled. According to Rail Magazine, rumours that DB Schenker was interested in replacing the Class 60's engines were prevalent around this time. In January 2011, DB Schenker announced that seven units would undergo overhauls, along with an option to overhaul
3780-502: The United Kingdom and Ireland. In 2019, Deutsche Bahn unsuccessfully tried to sell the business. In October 2023, Deutsche Bahn agreed on terms to sell Arriva to I Squared Capital , with the transaction scheduled to be completed in 2024. The sale was completed on 4 June 2024 at a reported price of £1.4bn. DB also has interests abroad, owning the United Kingdom's largest rail freight operator, DB Cargo UK , which also operates
3864-497: The assets of wagon bogie company Probotec Limited in 2005. It was formed into a new subsidiary, Axiom Rail, that also took over responsibility for some of the depots, and leasing surplus locomotives overseas. During October 2005, the company launched a new subsidiary, which traded as Euro Cargo Rail , based in the French market. Several Class 66 locomotives were transferred from EWS to Euro Cargo Rail. In November 2005, EWS acquired
3948-415: The coal, electricity generation and steel industries, and infrastructure trains for Railtrack . Following privatisation EWS began to compete for Intermodal contracts, while it faced competition from Freightliner in its core markets. In 1999, the company's turnover was £533.7 million, representing an 80% market share in terms of value. On 1 April 1998, open access operator National Power 's rail division
4032-590: The companies. It also acquired National Power 's open-access freight operator in April 1998. During January 2001, the Canadian National Railway acquired a 42.5% stake in the business via its purchase of Wisconsin Central. In 2003, EWS lost the Royal Mail contract to run mail trains . In October 2005, it launched a subsidiary, Euro Cargo Rail , to focus on the French market; that same year,
4116-505: The company acquired the wagon maintenance business Marcroft. During 2006, the Office of Rail Regulation fined EWS £4.1million for anti-competitive practices in the coal haulage sector. In November 2007, the company was bought by German train operator Deutsche Bahn for £309 million. In January 2009, EWS was rebranded as DB Schenker. In November 2011, a weekly service using European sized swap bodies commenced between Barking , London and Wrocław , Poland using High Speed 1 . In March 2016,
4200-526: The company came to an agreement with DSV of Denmark, a logistics company; in the agreement, DSV will acquire Schenker from Deutsche Bahn for $ 15.84 billion. Trains in Germany are classified by their stopping pattern, average speed and level of comfort provided: Just as ICE, EC and (few) IC cross European borders, train categories of other operators cross into Germany and are operated in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn: There are several other operators in Germany which sometimes offer other categories, also,
4284-542: The company instead decided that electric hauled traction would be replaced by diesel traction such as the Class 66 locomotive. The company also stated that they will pledge for further research and implementation of alternative EVO based fuels to meet their climate targets. In September 2023 12 Class 90s were offered for sale on DB's website; the locomotives listed were; 90017, 90018, 90022, 90023, 90025, 90027, 90030, 90031, 90032, 90033, 90038 and 90040. As well as an extensive fleet of freight wagons, DB Schenker Rail operate
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#17327655604294368-522: The company placed a £375 million order for 250 Class 66 and 30 Class 67 diesel-electric locomotives with the American locomotive manufacturer Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD); the deal was referred to as "the biggest British loco order since steam days". These replaced a large proportion of its original fleet, including all of the 20 , 31 , 33 , 37 , 47 , 56 , 58 , 73 and 86 class locomotives. Through improved utilisation, they also replaced many of
4452-494: The company was found to be in breach of its contractual agreements it could be banned from running railway services in the United Kingdom. The rail carrier reported a €1 billion half year net loss stemming from investments to repair its rail network, strikes and bad weather in July of 2024. As a result, Deutsche Bahn announced that they would shed 30,000 administrative jobs, roughly equal to 9% of their workforce. In September 2024,
4536-494: The company was rebranded as DB Cargo UK. In October 2016, DB Cargo announced plans to cut 893 jobs in response to a sharp downturn in coal and steel traffic. In the following year, it announced a loss after tax for the financial year of £57 million against a turnover of £325 million. Over the next two years, the company's fleet size was reduced somewhat, mainly through the disposal or sale of older elements. During 2019, DB Cargo signed an agreement with Maritime Transport Ltd to launch
4620-538: The company was represented by a logo that was colloquially known as the "Beasties", consisting of three heads: the lion of England, the dragon of Wales and the stag of Scotland. A larger version of the logo was called the "Big Beasties". Services included mail, locomotive hire, wagonload traffic (branded 'Enterprise', founded by Transrail Freight), cross channel trains via the Channel Tunnel , trainload freight including oil, aggregates, cement and traffic related to
4704-465: The delivery of both mail and parcels. Throughout the 1990s, many smaller services were cut back, and mail services were removed from most passenger stations. Following the opening of the new London hub on 30 September 1996, British rail mail operations were drastically restructured, only dedicated mail trains were operated after this date and thus were no longer based at any main line stations, as it had been decided to centrally base all London mail trains at
4788-508: The entity was purchased entirely by the recently created railway freight operator English Welsh & Scottish (EWS); shortly thereafter, RES was integrated into the firm and ceased to exist as an independent operation. A few years later, railway-based mail operations ended entirely in Britain due to the increasingly poor economics involved. During the 1980s, British Rail 's senior management endeavoured to rejuvenate numerous aspects of its operations and to better fulfil customer demands. Under
4872-405: The ex-BR freight businesses being offered for sale. It was owned by a consortium, headed by Wisconsin Central , and financed by multiple investment firms, including Berkshire Partners , Goldman Sachs and Fay Richwhite . On 9 December 1995, North and South Railways purchased Rail Express Systems for £24 million. With this purchase came the contract for the Royal Mail train service, including
4956-430: The faster delivery of mail to distant destinations, necessitated the streamlining of both mail pick-ups and drop-offs, a policy which resulted in many intermediate locations seeing the permanently withdrawn of coverage by RES services. Instead, mail was to be transported by road to the 45 stations that would be served by the remaining mail trains. Despite this, the increasing efficiency of mechanical sorting in comparison to
5040-474: The financial year of £57 million against a turnover of £325 million. In early 2019, DB Cargo signed an agreement with Maritime Transport Ltd to create a new rail freight operation called Maritime Intermodal . From 1 April 2019, Maritime took over the running of DB's freight terminals at Trafford Park (Manchester), Birmingham (Birch Coppice) and Wakefield Europort . Seven British Rail Class 66 locomotives have been repainted in blue Maritime livery and named: It
5124-575: The first actions of the enlarged company was to seek volunteers for redundancy, as it sought to reduce staff numbers by around 3,000, from 7,600. On 24 December 1996, EWS was announced as the preferred bidder for the loss-making Railfreight Distribution , for which it received grants and subsidies estimated to amount to £242 million over eight years . including subsidies for the use of the Channel Tunnel . Railfreight Distribution's businesses included international containerised freight, movement of cars and automotive components by rail, and freight services for
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#17327655604295208-425: The geographic origin of the traffic flow or in the case of power station coal the split was determined by the location of the power stations concerned. There were also some trainload services previously operated by the contract services business of RfD. The three new businesses were to be re-branded as Loadhaul , Mainline Freight and Transrail Freight for the short duration of their existence. The remainder of RfD
5292-433: The government's effort to create multiple competitive rail freight firms through the privatisation; the decision to allow the creation of a rail freight company with a dominant market position was justified by the additional competition faced from other transport modes. At the time, rail had a 6% share of the freight market. Initially, the four companies continued to trade under their existing names. However, on 25 April 1996,
5376-457: The hand sorting methods used onboard RES' fleet of travelling post offices (TPOs) meant that the latter was becoming increasingly uneconomic regardless of the structural changes being made. As part of the privatisation of British Rail , RES was the first freight company put up for sale, with bids lodged by Freightliner , a management buyout , Serco and a Wisconsin Central led a consortium known as North and South railways. The latter's bid
5460-510: The hub instead. Accordingly, the final mail train services departed King's Cross, Euston, Liverpool Street and Paddington stations on 27 September 1996. In place of passenger stations, these services were directly to a number of mail hubs at strategic locations; these were: Shieldmuir ( Motherwell ), Low Fell ( Gateshead ), Warrington , Doncaster , Bristol Parkway , Tonbridge and Wembley PRDC (London) as well as dedicated platforms at Stafford . The restructuring of services, intended to enable
5544-534: The latter's takeover of the Mendip stone traffic. DB Cargo also sold five Class 60s to private sales/metal recyclers. In 2023 in response to the UK Energy crisis DB Cargo UK's current managing director Andrea Rossi announced intentions to withdraw all of their Class 90s with the intention to sell or scrap the locomotives with Rossi stating that the running of electric hauled traction was no longer economically viable,
5628-538: The market with the business units DB Schenker and DB Cargo , which were combined under the umbrella of DB Schenker, and the Intermodal division, which operates in combined transport. In 2016, rail freight transport was separated from logistics and DB Schenker Rail was renamed DB Cargo . In cooperation with the logistics provider time:matters , DB also offers the transport of shipments weighing up to 20 kg on its EC/IC/ICE trains. The infrastructure division
5712-698: The newer 60 and 90 class locomotives as well. During 1999, EWS gained the attention of the Rail Regulator for its practice of scrapping serviceable locomotives rather than making them available for sale to potential competitors; on future disposals, the company was compelled to make efforts to sell units before being allowed to scrap them. Several of the firm's redundant locomotives saw further use on infrastructure trains in Europe, such as numerous Class 37s operated in France (40), Italy (2) and Spain (14), Class 56s in France (30), and Class 58s in France (26),
5796-414: The next morning on the same ticket is usually of advantage. Seat reservations are included only for first class tickets and seating capacity is not always assured, even for tickets valid on one particular connection only. Local trains (S, RB, RE, IRE) also accept tickets issued by local transport associations , which can also be used on buses, trams, and U-Bahn trains. DB offers concessionary fares with
5880-644: The onset of the financial crisis of 2007–08 saw this cancelled. In 2014, the Jewish community of Thessaloniki demanded that the Deutsche Bahn , which is the successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , should reimburse the heirs of Greek Holocaust victims of Thessaloniki for train fares that they were forced to pay for their deportation from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz and Treblinka between March and August 1943. In June 2018 controversy grew in
5964-468: The policy of Sectorisation , BR's entire rail-based mail operations were consolidated into their own business unit, Rail Express Systems (RES). This reorganisation under its own management team led to a new focus of its operations on the specific needs of its primary customer, the Royal Mail (RM). During October 1991, RES was officially launched at Crewe Diesel TMD . For this event, examples of Class 08 , 47 , 86 and 90 locomotives were painted into
6048-512: The principal one being the Royal Mail . Thus, various initiatives were undertaken, including the procurement of new rolling stock in the form of 16 four-car British Rail Class 325 , a series of electric multiple units built exclusively for moving mail. During the mid-1990s, RES implemented a £150 million strategy that focused on long-distance services that worked in conjunction with a central hub based in London at its heart, known as Railnet . As
6132-593: The safety of staff, as there was little consideration towards the crashworthiness or the wellbeing of the TPO's occupants in the event of a major accident. Furthermore, the Royal Mail had increasingly decided to make use of other means of transporting mail, including aircraft and road vehicles. Amid these various factors, during 2003, it was announced that Royal Mail had decided to suspend all transportation of mail by rail. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw many changes to
6216-589: The subsidiaries of DBAG: DB Reise & Touristik AG (long-distance passenger service, later renamed DB Station & Service AG (operating the stations)). This new organisational scheme was introduced not least to implement European Community directive 91/440/EEC that requires open access operations on railway lines by companies other than those that own the rail infrastructure. In December 2007, DB reorganised again, bringing all passenger services into its DB Bahn arm, logistics under DB Schenker and infrastructure and operations under DB Netze . The DB
6300-664: The time of the acquisition, EWS had a market share of around 70% in the United Kingdom rail freight sector and had around 5,000 employees. After the transaction was approved by the European Commissioner for Competition , the transaction was completed on 13 November 2007. At the time of the sale, it was announced that EWS would not be rebranded, however, on 1 January 2009, EWS was rebranded as DB Schenker along with Deutsche Bahn's Railion and DB Schenker divisions. The first locomotive painted in DB Schenker livery
6384-519: The wagon maintenance business Marcroft . Due to the potential of the acquisition to reduce competition in the UK wagon repair market, the acquisition was referred to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading , which required EWS to sell all or part of the business, excluding Marcroft's works at Stoke on Trent , which were incorporated into Axiom. By 2006, company turnover was reportedly approaching £1 billion. In 2006,
6468-466: The work force was involved in profit sharing and other incentivised working plans; as a consequence, shipping rates were reduced by over 30%. Many locomotives inherited on foundation were considered unreliable, and expensive to maintain; the company invested heavily in modernisation of its rolling stock; by 2002, £750 million had been invested in this manner, resulting in the delivery of 280 new locomotives and in excess of 2,000 new wagons. Around this time,
6552-643: Was Class 59 59206 at Toton Depot in January 2009, being formally unveiled at the National Railway Museum , York on 21 January 2009. During 2009, DB Schenker Rail began work to enable Class 92 hauled trains to operate freight services on the High Speed 1 by installing in cab TVM signalling. The project received funding from the European Commission and it was originally anticipated services would begin in early 2010. On 25 March 2011,
6636-477: Was divided into the DB Netz (rail infrastructure), DB Station&Service (stations and services) and DB Energie (Energy) business units. At the end of December 2023, DB Netz merged with DB Station&Service to create DB InfraGO AG. The new company is intended to reduce poor communication between the two previously separate infrastructure firms and to be more 'oriented towards the common good.' In fact, that
6720-636: Was formed in January 1994, it became a joint stock-company, and was designed to operate the railways of both the former East and West Germany after unification in October 1990 as a single, uniform, and private company. There are three main periods of development in this unified German railway: its formation, its early years (1994–1999), and the period from 1999 to the present. Originally, DBAG had its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main but moved to Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin in 1996, where it occupies
6804-412: Was its responsibility for the haulage of the Royal Train whenever required. Seeking to rejuvenate rail mail, RES devised a £150 million strategy that focused on long-distance services that worked in conjunction with a central hub based in London at its heart, known as Railnet . During late 1993, RES and RM had signed a 13-year deal with RES to operate the trains from this new hub, also referred to as
6888-425: Was split into two companies: Freightliner ( container operations between ports), with the residual RfD company operating freight trains through the Channel Tunnel . The Mail and Parcels business were sold as Rail Express Systems and Red Star Parcels . These companies were subsequently put up for sale by competitive tender. A new company, North and South Railways Limited , was formed for the purpose of bidding for
6972-642: Was successful, the sale taking effect on 9 December 1995 with 164 locomotives and 677 wagons included. In 1996, the business was integrated into English Welsh & Scottish (EWS), ceasing to exist as a separate entity. Rail-based mail traffic continued to decline following the integration. A further factor that negatively impacted such operations was the Hatfield rail crash during October 2000, which led to numerous restrictions being imposed upon TPOs, including new speed limitations and numerous cancellations across many routes. There were also rising concerns over
7056-497: Was taken over by EWS, along with its six Class 59 locomotives and 106 wagons. During late January 2001, the Canadian National Railway announced it had agreed to purchase Wisconsin Central. The deal, which included Wisconsin Central's 42.5% stake in EWS, was concluded in October 2001. During 2003, the Royal Mail terminated its mail train contract with EWS; this traffic was transferred to aircraft and road transport instead. EWS acquired
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