Business, Freight News, Logistics

Poland-UK rail service to go twice-weekly

[ February 10, 2012   //   Chris ]

DB Schenker says it will add a second weekly train service from Wroclaw, Poland to Barking, East London in September this year and plans to raise the frequency to five trains per week in 2013.

The additional train service, which operates from

A regular weekly container train service between the two cities and, thanks to its use of the Continental loading gauge High Speed 1 route in the UK, capable of carrying European-sized curtain-sided swap bodies was launched last year.

The significantly larger volumetric capacity available from the swap bodies, with an internal height of three metres, means two standard pallets can be transported stacked on top of each other.

DB Schenker Rail UK has also upgraded five class 92 locomotives, the only rail freight locomotives approved to work on HS1, following the service’s launch. Special signalling equipment is being installed in the locomotives, enabling them to work with the signalling systems on HS1.

Earlier, DB Schenker announced plans to boost its connecting weekly service for standard-sized wagons between Mossend in central Scotland and Barking to three times a week by the end of this year and up to five a week within three to five years. The increased frequency would tie in with expansion of the Barking to Poland service and would increase the amount of freight that can be exported from Scotland to Europe from around 2,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes per week.