Freight News, Rail

Trains on a mercy mission: updated

[ August 15, 2016   //   Chris ]

Over 20 years since the demise of British Rail’s Red Star parcels service, which used trains to delivery sameday consignments around the British Isles, urgent pharma shipments are once again taking to the rails, says Bio FastTrack, a partnership between InterCity RailFreight (ICRF) and WEGO Carbon Neutral Couriers.

Companies around the country running clinical trials where samples need to be tested in London laboratories have found that 125mph passenger trains from Nottingham, Sheffield Leicester, Derby and East Midlands Parkway can get them there much faster than the road alternative.

Products are carried in sealed containers in dedicated lockers on the trains and delivered and collected by WEGO Carbon Neutral Couriers at the stations at either end. The temperature is monitored throughout the journey to ensure the specialist packaging maintains the product within the required levels.
The service was launched in conjunction with East Midlands Trains in 2014 to carry time critical bio samples for one of the world’s largest pathology groups.

ICRF and Wego have also received a Green Aplle reward from independent environmental group, the Green Organisation.

 

Tags: InterCity RailFreight . WEGO