Supermarket chain Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK, has been a consistent customer of rail freight. The dominant grocery chain, and has a twelve-year-old relationship with Direct Rail Services. Now, they have renewed their distribution contract with the British rail freight operator. The new deal will see the two companies continue to work together until at least mid-2027.
Tesco is a household name in the UK. It has almost thirty per cent of the fiercely competitive grocery market, and over 3,400 supermarkets and convenience stores, all over the UK. It was founded in 1919, some decades before Carlisle-based DRS was launched in 1995. DRS is the rail freight arm of Nuclear Transport Solutions, but has grown to be a general freight carrier.
Modern traction
Tesco remains the most prominent retailer to use rail on a daily basis for the distribution of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) around Britain. Tesco’s branded intermodal containers are a common sight around the UK rail network. The supermarket’s blue livery matches that of the carrier DRS, who make extensive use of their modern electric and bi-mode locomotives. Pride of place goes to a rake of ten Stadler-built electro-diesels, designated Class 88 in the UK, and derived from the manufacturer’s EuroDual design to fit on the constrained loading gauge of the British network. Parent company, Nuclear Transport Solutions is currently involved in a carbon-free trail of its own, with a sail-powered ship under evaluation off the west coast of England.
Nevertheless, the convenience of intermodal containers is easily undertaken through most of the network, and Tesco makes extensive use of that availability. Every month, on behalf of the retailer, DRS transports over 12,000 40-foot containers. That total shipment (of around 24000 TEU) is equivalent to the entire load of one ultra-large container vessel. While only a proportion of the produce on the supermarket shelves at Tesco is imported from overseas, a number of their daily consists originate at UK ports, with consolidation taking place at Daventry in the English Midlands.
Route network
The branded intermodal services, often known as the Tesco Trains, have become a familiar sight on the British network. That’s hardly surprising, given that DRS now operates ten daily trains over nine routes, including a new run launched this month (November) between Daventry and Widnes near Liverpool, as reported by RailFreight.com.
* Daventry (Tesco’s main hub in the English Midlands) to Mossend in Central Scotland, near Glasgow
* Mossend to Teesport
* Daventry to the Port of Tilbury (running twice daily to serve demand in London)
* Daventry to Wentloog (near Cardiff for South Wales supermarkets)
* Daventry to Teesport via Doncaster
* Mossend to Inverness in the north of Scotland. Produce from Central Scottish manufacturers is added to the consist)
* Daventry to Manchester (which is now supplemented by the Widnes run)
“Recently, we launched Tesco’s tenth rail freight service, removing thousands of lorries from the road and saving 6,000t CO2e per year,” said Gottfried Eymer, NTS Rail Director. “We’re very pleased to continue our long-standing work with Tesco, which has developed over the last twelve years, and demonstrates the fantastic service and the value rail freight can bring.”
Less CO2 logo
Tesco keenly emphasises its environmental credentials. They play on the company logo – and brand most of their intermodal 40-foot containers with a “Less CO2” logo in the retailer’s typeface. The company does, however, have some long-distance railway distribution runs in the UK where no electric traction is available – notably, the 120-mile (193km) haul from Grangemouth container terminal in Central Scotland to their hub at Inverness.
Despite being a relatively small community, Inverness acts as a distribution hub for the dispersed Highland territories of the far north of Scotland – an area of almost the same landmass as Belgium. However, both Tesco and DRS stress that even with diesel locomotive haulage, the rail option is four times more carbon efficient than the road transport alternative.