GB Railfreight unveils £5.7m rail freight hub built by Cairn Cross

GB Railfreight unveiled the new state of the art maintenance depot in Peterborough alongside the East Coast Mainline on Tuesday, 26th September, with Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper MP and CEO of GB Railfreight, John Smith, marking and speaking at the occasion.

Valued at £5.75 million, it is a 95-metre superstructure shed with two roads, a gantry crane and jacking systems to provide maintenance facilities. The Hub, which is larger than six-Olympic swimming pools, was built on derelict land bringing new economic activity and around 20 permanent jobs to the local area.

During his visit to mark the ceremonial opening of the facility, Mr Harper said: “This new facility will help deliver clean, safe and secure freight journeys while creating jobs and boosting the city’s economy.”

Once in full operation, the facility will improve safety and reliability across GBRf’s wagon fleet, using smart sensor technology to quickly analyse wagon conditions and identify faults much earlier quickly and accurately. The hub would be able to analyse four wagons per shift, and use electric-powered shunt engines and forklifts, with Mark Harper MP calling it “innovative”.

The facility has been built in 10 months and is fully powered by electricity, which GBRf said would limit carbon emissions.

Transport Secretary MP Mark Harper who opened the new maintenance facility said ‘ It’s a fantastic achievement, built in 10 months, my ears did prick up a little bit when you said it was built on time and on budget, that’s always very attractive’.

Over 1700tonnes of waste was recycled from the site and over 580 metres of p-way (rail track) was laid.