[Image caption - pictured from left to right: Neil Sime, Managing Director, Victa Railfreight and Mark Grimshaw-Smith, Rail and Sea Manager, Cemex UK]
Cemex and Victa Railfreight are delighted to announce the renewal of their rail terminal operations partnership at Dove Holes quarry in the Peak District as Cemex continues to grow its rail supply chain activities in the UK in support of its global Future in Action programme. This underpins all of Cemex’s environmental and sustainability activities; with the ultimate objective of becoming a carbon net zero business by 2050.
The global construction materials supplier, – who provide a range of products in the UK from cement, readymix concrete and aggregates to complimentary urbanisation solutions which include asphalts, mortars and admixtures alongside pre-cast concrete products – continue to invest in their rail operations to support the transportation of vital building materials to the industry.
Mark Grimshaw-Smith, Rail and Sea Manager for Cemex in the UK said, “The renewal of our rail terminal operations contract at Dove Holes is a demonstration of our continued commitment to rail as a safe, effective and more sustainable mode of transport and our partnership with Victa Railfreight is critical in the shunting, placement and planning management of our rail schedules across the wider rail network.”
Rail transportation plays a key part in Cemex’s UK supply chain activities at its Dove Holes quarry, from which it transports around 3 million tonnes of aggregates a year. This is then dispatched to receiving depots around the UK for use in a wide range of building, construction and infrastructure projects, with Victa Railfreight also coordinating the provision of facilities for customers to collect materials from the quarry using their own rail providers.
Cemex has significantly grown its rail operations over recent years and now has rail transport links at 12 of its sites in the UK with plans to increase this in the near future.
Cemex’s Director of Supply Chain for the UK, Dave Hart, comments that, “Rail is an integral part of our transport operation at Cemex, and aligns with our global Future in Action strategy of reducing our CO2 emissions. Delivery by train produces around 50% less CO2 per ton-mile than a road vehicle, largely in part to their ability to carry significantly increased volumes of materials. We’re extremely proud of the growth that we have seen across our rail operations at Cemex in recent years, and of the contribution that this has made to our overall sustainability commitments. It remains a key focus area which we intend to continue to grow, and it will play an ever-increasing role in our supply chain network.”
Alongside supporting Cemex with their rail operations at Dove Holes, Victa Railfreight provides a wide range of services to customers and suppliers in the freight industry throughout the UK. Since forming in 1995 the company has constantly adapted to the evolving landscape of the rail freight industry and their product portfolio now provides a range of operational, safety and logistics services to rail freight operators and customers across the UK.
Victa Railfreight’s Managing Director, Neil Sime, said “we are delighted to have renewed our partnership with Cemex at Dove Holes. Over the past five years we have worked hard to provide a safe, high quality and responsive service and to work with Cemex and the other FOC’s to maximise the volumes out of Dove Holes and deliver a very high level of performance, consistently delivering 99% plus of all outbound trains ‘on time and in full’ to the trunk rail operators’ at the departure point for onwards haulage.
This level of service is testament to our dedicated team of Rail Logistics Operators, all of whom have been recruited new to the rail industry and have been trained in house to handle the shunting and main line loco driving duties required to fulfil our operation at Dove Holes. In addition, our contract management adds enormous value by dealing with the interfaces and liaison with all parties to optimise resource utilisation and quickly respond to service disruption and volume fluctuations.
This commitment, coupled with a high level of cooperation between the parties has been a key driver in the growth of rail volumes from the quarry.”
