Mainline Freight was a trainload rail freight operator based in
Islington,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
with operations extending to
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
in the north and
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
in the west. It was formed from part of
British Rail's
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
division as part of the
privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...
.
Mainline Freight,
Loadhaul
Loadhaul Ltd. was a railfreight operator based in the north-east of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1994, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, and acquired in 1996 by a consortium headed by Wisconsin Central, then merged into a ne ...
and
Transrail were purchased by a consortium led by
Wisconsin Central in 1996 and amalgamated into a new company,
English Welsh & Scottish.
History
Mainline Freight was created in 1994 along with
Transrail and
Loadhaul
Loadhaul Ltd. was a railfreight operator based in the north-east of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1994, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, and acquired in 1996 by a consortium headed by Wisconsin Central, then merged into a ne ...
as part of the broadly regional split of British Rail's
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
operations - Mainline Freight's centre of operations were South East England, and East Anglia, and the East Midlands. Three companies were created with the aim of promoting competition between the businesses.
[Sources:
*
*] It was initially and briefly named "Trainload Freight South East Limited" before being re-branded in September 1994.
All three former
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
companies including Mainline Freight were acquired in February 1996 by 'North-South Railways': a company formed by a consortium led by US railroad company
Wisconsin Central, for a combined total of £225.15million (approximately $349 million).
The management of Mainline Freight, backed by
Candover and
Associated British Ports also formed a bidding consortium for the three former
Trainload Freight
Trainload Freight was the sector of British Rail responsible for trainload freight services. The division was subdivided into four sub-sectors; coal, petroleum, metals and construction.
It was formed in 1988 from the trainload operations of Br ...
companies.
The three companies together with
Rail Express Systems
Rail Express Systems (RES) was a sector of British Rail. This sector was responsible for transport of mail and parcels, including the travelling post office trains, as well as taking over charter operations from InterCity and haulage of the Roy ...
were formed into a new company,
English Welsh & Scottish (EWS).
Fleet
![37047-ActonMainLine-20040929](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/37047-ActonMainLine-20040929.JPG)
Mainline Freight's fleet consisted of
Class 08,
Class 09,
Class 31,
Class 33,
Class 37,
Class 47,
Class 58,
Class 60 and
Class 73 locomotives based at
Toton
Toton is a large village in the Borough of Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, England. The electoral ward of Toton and Chilwell Meadows population of this ward was 7,298 in the 2001 census. It increased to 8,238 at the 2011 census.
Until 1974 Toton ...
,
Stratford,
Hither Green
Hither Green is a district in south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham. It forms the southern part of Lewisham, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) south-east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian.
Growing extensively with ...
,
Stewarts Lane
Stewarts Lane is a large railway-servicing facility in Battersea in London, England, founded by the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1862, to serve London Victoria railway station. It is sited in the midst of a maze of railway lines ...
and
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, ...
depots
Livery
![37891 British Rail class 37 diesel loco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/37891_British_Rail_class_37_diesel_loco.jpg)
The company introduced a livery of 'aircraft blue' with a silver bodyside stripe, and "rolling wheels" logo with Mainline branding. Some locomotives (particularly the classes 33, 37, 58 and 60) retained the Trainload Freight two-tone grey livery but with the addition of the Mainline Freight logo.
References
External links
DB Cargo UK
Rail freight companies in the United Kingdom
Privatisation of British Rail
{{UK-rail-transport-stub