JAMES ABBOTT takes a run through the Chilterns in the cab of a Class 60
HS2 – or what’s left of it – plays a key role in the British rail freight market. It is estimated the high-speed rail project is responsible for 15% to 20% of rail freight volumes, with trains hauling in concrete segments for tunnel linings, sleepers, ballast and other track components, and shifting out vast quantities of tunnelled spoil.
Inbound aggregates for many construction purposes, ranging from material that will form the base for haul roads to stone for embankment stabilisation, are one of the principal rail-borne commodities. Indeed, rail links at quarries owned by Heidelberg Materials (formerly Hanson) at Machen in SouthWales andTytherington in Gloucestershire have been revitalised by HS2 work.
Tytherington is currently generating three trains a day direct to the project (along with others to terminals at Appleford andWest Drayton). The direct trains are loaded with aggregates destined for the section of HS2 Phase One being built by the EKFB joint venture (comprising Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial and Bam Nuttall) through 80km of countryside in the South Midlands. This is a remarkable operation that has used innovative solutio…
