RMC/EWS ink seven year deal

UK ports were largely caught unprepared by the surge in coal imports a few years ago. Paradoxically, with major investments now in place, they could be facing a drastic decline.

CEMEX UK has awarded a six-year contract to EWS Construction for its entire rail freight requirement for aggregates and coal. This is the first major contract awarded to EWS Construction and includes the transportation of over 2 mtpa of materials.

British rail freight operator EWS has been fined £4.1M (€6M) by the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR), following complaints about anticompetitive behaviour made by Enron Coal Services in 2001 and Freightliner Heavy Haul (FHH) in 2002.

EWS, the British rail logistics company, is to create four new divisions to meet the changing requirements of customers and to stimulate growth in rail freight.

Despite the general uncertainty in the domestic coal market, rail hauliers are finding power stations a rich source of work

EWS, Britain’s largest rail freight operator, has won a contract from Alcan to haul 40,000 tonnes of aluminium ingot per annum by rail in Scotland. This will result in the removal of ≥3500 lorries/year (equivalent to 630,000 lorry miles) from the A82 between Fort William and Glasgow, through scenic Glen Coe.