National equipment and tool hire firm Speedy is supporting track maintenance and renewal contractors across East Anglia in meeting industry sustainability targets, after opening the region’s first specialist rail service centre.
The site, which opened near Bury St Edmunds in Spring this year, is providing low-emission tools and equipment to rail contractors operating across Cambridge, Peterborough, Norwich, Ipswich, Essex and the wider region.
The centre is supporting Stratford based contractor 1stinrail to shrink the overall carbon footprint of its projects, in order to meet Network Rail’s 2021 target for fossil fuel-free sites.
The contractor is hiring a variety of sustainable battery-powered assets for rail welding, track placement, renewal and maintenance projects from the Speedy specialist service centre.
The opening of the specialist rail centre is also significantly reducing mileage in 1stinrail’s supply chain, by cutting the distance that hire equipment needs to travel. Previously, specialist rail equipment would need to be sourced from providers in South Yorkshire or the West Midlands.
Daryl Doherty, director of rail at Speedy, said: “The Anglia region’s rail contractors have historically been underserviced by hire providers with equipment having to travel so far to reach them. This has put them at a disadvantage for achieving environmental targets due to the emissions associated with high levels of delivery miles.
“Supporting sustainability in the supply chain is critically important to us, with the location of this depot being equally as important to the significant range of eco equipment we’re providing.
“Many rail contractors’ contracts are still in their infancy, and are bound to the industry’s sustainability goals, so it will be crucial for their projects to meet carbon savings in the near term.”
Jamie Kelly, director of 1stinrail said: “The Anglia rail specialist service centre has slashed the distance our equipment deliveries have to travel when working on local projects like the improvement works at Whittlesea Station in Peterborough.
“Previously, we would have had to travel almost 100 miles to source tools and equipment, but the new depot has more than cut this in half, significantly reducing our emissions.”
The specialist Speedy centre will act as a local champion for battery-powered equipment, with an event planned at the centre later in the year, to showcase the hire provider’s sustainable tools and equipment to local contractors.
Speedy showcased its range of battery powered assets at Rail Live, including a first to market battery powered lighting tower, the ‘MX Fuel Tower Light’, manufactured by Milwaukee.
The centre will also take advantage of its large capacity to specialise in sustainable trackside safety, supplying large items such as eco lighting and trackside fencing.
Network Rail’s sustainability targets are to reduce absolute scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions by 46% and absolute scope three emissions by 28% by 2029, and to ensure 75% of their suppliers have science-based targets by 2025.
