Industry | Rail freight |
---|---|
Predecessor |
Loadhaul Mainline Freight Rail Express Systems Railfreight Distribution Transrail Freight |
Founded | 1995 |
Headquarters | Doncaster, England |
Area served
|
United Kingdom |
Key people
|
Edward Burkhardt (Chairman & CEO 1995–1999) Keith Heller (CEO / Co-chairman) 2004–2010 Alain Thauvette CEO |
Services | Bulk freight and intermodal logistics |
Owner | Deutsche Bahn |
Parent | DB Schenker |
Subsidiaries |
Euro Cargo Rail Axiom Rail |
Website | www.uk.dbcargo.com |
DB Cargo UK, formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway, is a British rail freight company headquartered in Doncaster, England.
The company was founded in 1995 as North & South Railways, acquiring five of the six freight companies sold during the privatisation of British Rail, becoming the UK market leader in rail freight transportation. In November 2007, EWS was sold to Deutsche Bahn, and in January 2009 rebranded DB Schenker. In March 2016 it was rebranded DB Cargo UK.
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 bulk coal, petroleum, aggregates and metals. BR's bulk trainload services were handled by the Trainload Freight division. In 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 North East, Trainload West and Trainload South East, with each initially given existing contracts, based on the geographic origin of the trainflow, plus some contract trainload services previously handled by RfD. which were later renamed Loadhaul, Mainline Freight and Transrail Freight.
The remainder of RfD 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.