At this year’s National Rail Awards, Direct Rail Services (DRS) and Tesco won the prestigious Freight and Logistics Achievement of the Year award for DRS’s innovative refrigerated rail service with supermarket giant Tesco.

The National Rail Awards provides the opportunity to display excellence in all aspects of the rail industry. They are one of the most prominent award ceremonies in the rail calendar, and the Direct Rail Services team fought off strong competition from across the sector to win the award.

DRS is part of Nuclear Transport Solutions, a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

The refrigerated rail service was introduced 10 months ago to distribute chilled goods on the 415-mile route from Tilbury to Coatbridge by low CO2 rail. It is Tesco’s first refrigerated rail freight service and runs twice a day, seven days a week.

The low CO2 rating is achieved by using Direct Rail Services’ Class 88 bi-mode electric locomotives that run on electricity and produce zero exhaust and greenhouse gas emissions. Using rail takes at least 17,000 containers off the road each year, saving Tesco 7.3 million road miles and nearly 9,000 tonnes of CO2.

Speaking about the award success, Seth Kybird, NTS CEO, said: “We’re very proud of this service and the work we’re doing with our customers to introduce new and innovative freight trains to the rail network.

“It’s absolutely fantastic that we’ve been recognised for our efforts and the work we’re doing to promote the use of rail as the environmental choice for big retailers in the UK.

“Each train removes around 40 lorries from Britain’s road network and we’re running two trains a day, seven days a week. But the journey doesn’t stop here as we continue to encourage the use of rail freight for retailers across the country.”

David Peattie, NDA CEO, added: “This is wonderful news for Direct Rail Services and extremely well-deserved recognition. DRS plays a crucial role in the NDA’s mission, safely transporting materials across the UK, and offers world-leading and innovative rail operations for Tesco, keeping the supermarket shelves full, all while supporting our carbon net-zero ambitions.”