RAIL HELPS BUILD ROAD

Line clear ahead: loco No 60095 running north with the 06.07 Oxwellmains – Aberdeen Craiginches loaded cement train on 1 March 2017, with the whole train comprising modern JPA tanks built by Feldbinder in Germany. Blackford signal box is in the background. Ian Lothian

COLAS RAIL is operating a service between Dunbar (Oxwellmains) and Aberdeen for Tarmac, principally for the supply of construction materials for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. The new road, one of the largest infrastructure projects in Scotland, will be 58km long and is expected to open in the winter of 2017-18.

Tarmac owns a quarry and cement plant at Dunbar. Investment at both Dunbar and Aberdeen has helped this service, including funding for new rail wagons which can increase the amount of cement carried per train. Each of these trains removes over 40 cement lorries from the roads.