Direct Rail Services

Direct Rail Services (DRS) was established in 1995 to aid the nuclear industry in transporting waste from power stations to reprocessing plants

DRS continues to support the decommissioning activities of its parent company, but it has also extended its service offerings into a number of new rail market sectors.

Such as:

• Intermodal freight

• Specialist freight

• Rail network infrastructure support

• Major infrastructure project support

• Passenger and TOC support.

Rolling stock

2014 saw the introduction of a new Class 68 locomotive, jointly developed with Vossloh in Valencia, Spain. As part of its drive for technical innovation, DRS has developed a fleet of IDA ‘Super’ Lowliner twin platforms. Offering an ultra-low platform height which results in reduced CO2 and increased fuel efficiency.

This also allowed the company to increase its network access and gave it the ability to carry higher height ISO containers across the network.

Intermodal – Tesco

Working in partnership, DRS and Stobart Rail combined their road and rail capabilities to help Tesco meet its commitment to be zero carbon by 2050.

Switching to an intermodal delivery solution is set to save an estimated 26 million lorry miles every year, with a correspondingly dramatic reduction in CO2, as the full range of intermodal services come on line. On average, each rail journey takes 77 heavy goods vehicles off the UK’s congested roads.

This results in dramatic fuel savings and can reduce CO2 emissions by up to eighty per cent depending on the route.

DRS’ use of lowliner wagons allows for two additional containers to be placed on each train, further cutting costs and reducing CO2.

Golden Whistle Winners 2017

DRS received the Golden Whistle Award for the fourth time running in London where it was officially declared The Best Performing Rail Freight Operator.

Organised by the Institute of Railway Operators, the annual event celebrates operational excellence in the industry.

The Golden Whistle is awarded on consistent arrival times at destination over the previous twelve months during which DRS was declared more reliable than any of its competitors.

Following the awards Head of Performance for DRS, Norman Egglestone said: ‘This is now the fourth time in a row DRS have received this prestigious award and we remain by far ‘The Best Performing Rail Freight Operator’. DRS are rightly recognised for our excellent levels of performance and service delivery. In order to achieve this is it needs coordination, planning and delivery across many parts of our business.’