Thorney Mill may not be the most familiar destination on the British network, but its owner is certainly among the best-known in the business. As truckers go, Daniel Ashville Louisy is among the biggest advocates of rail freight there is. As the owner of the Ashville Group, Danny is working in collaboration with the British infrastructure agency Network Rail, to make life easier for rail freight in the West of England.
Over the next five years, Network Rail has an ambitious plan to promote the growth of rail freight services, and a priority is the busy West of England Main Line, running through what has become known as the M4 Corridor. That 100-mile (160km) strip of heavily congested industrial, commercial and residential development, is served in parallel to the railway by the motorway from which its designation is derived. Network Rail aims to change all that, but not without the help of people like Daniel.
Improving infrastructure for freight operators
Right now, Ashville Group features more often between the covers of trucking magazines than they do on the pages of RailFreight.com. However, behind the regal black and gold livery there’s a rail freight operation that helps take vehicles off that M4, and goes a long way providing a sustainable option for transporting heavy goods. At a site in Thorney Mill, West Drayton, on the edge of London and under the Heathrow flightpath, Network Rail has been supporting the Ashville Group to open a new freight yard adjacent to the London-based company’s existing aggregate base.
The project will revive an old rail siding, which is no longer in use, to allow the Ashville Group to place more loads onto freight trains. The new track layout will enable capacity for 26 freight wagons. At present, the yard only can accept 24. That same improvement will make a big difference. Currently, without the use of the sidings, hauls from the Ashville Group site must use a section of branch line to manoeuvre to and from the loading area, so the new capacity being built will allow increased maintenance access to the line, improving infrastructure reliability for freight operators.
Rail playing a huge part in the future
The new track layout of the sidings will also enable freight trains to complete a ‘run round’ on-site, reducing journey times and carbon emissions. At present, trains have to travel further down the branch line to complete this type of manoeuvre. the line is shared with traffic moving aviation fuel into Heathrow. The owner of the Ashville Group, Daniel Ashville Louisy, has plans to use solar power at the yard, further boosting the green credentials of the operation.
“The project at Thorney Mill is a great example of partnership working, allowing us to help expand the site for the Ashville Group, which will in turn enable freight operators to carry greater loads,” said Jess Lippett, senior regional freight manager for Network Rail’s Wales and Western Region. “The new sidings will open up the potential for different types of material to be transported all across the UK, while increasing the number of trains that can use the site each day.”
“Network Rail has been very supportive of our endeavours in rail,” said Daniel Ashville Louisy, owner of Ashville Aggregates. “We see rail playing a huge part in the future of construction and many other sections. Rail is the main source of supply to our business and has helped us become the masters of our own destiny”.