A new maintenance depot is to be built for GB Railfreight (GBRf) next to the East Coast Mainline at Peterborough.

The company is investing £4.7m in the depot in Peterborough which is to be built by Cairn Cross Engineering, Construction will start next month and will create about 60 jobs during construction and 20 more permanent jobs once the depot is completed next summer.

GB Railfreight is keen to improve safety and reliability across its wagon fleet, and the state-of-art maintenance hub is a key part of that aim.

The need for better maintenance was triggered by a recent report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) which highlighted inadequate maintenance practices as being partly to blame for the Llangennech derailment in August 2020. A fault in the braking system was identified as the cause of 25 laden tank wagons derailing, resulting in a major fire and a spillage of 446,000 litres of fuel.

Smart sensor technology will be used in the new depot that will use to quickly and accurately analyse wheel wear and degrading wheel-bearing conditions. It will also be able to identify faults in braking systems much earlier which will avoid a repeat of incidents such as Llangennech.

From next summer, wagons on the East Coast Mainline can undergo ‘pitstop style’ assessments, instead of lengthy field maintenance, which will allow them to be returned to service far quicker than conventional methods. Using these assessments, it is expected that a wagon’s time in traffic between repairs will be significantly extended.

GB Railfreight currently operates over 50 intermodal services each day serving all of the UK’s major seaports. The new Peterborough maintenance hub is part of the company’s growth plans of running 75 intermodal services a day by 2025 and continues the company’s sustained investment in the area following the construction last year of a new £3 million headquarters, also in Peterborough.

David Golding, Asset Director, GB Railfreight, said: “The Peterborough maintenance hub is a major investment into the sector and will form an integral part of our infrastructure long into the future. The derailment in Llangennech was a huge wake-up call for everyone across rail freight, our state-of-the-art maintenance hub demonstrates our commitment to ensure that this type of incident doesn’t happen on our fleet.

“Our ability to service wagons quickly will also allow us to deliver an even more reliable service to our customers and support GB Railfreight’s growth aspirations. ”

Phil Williamson, Managing Director, Cairn Cross Engineering Ltd, said; “Cairn Cross is delighted to have secured this project in partnership with GBRf at the Peterborough maintenance hub. The project will significantly improve the efficiency of rail freight maintenance in Eastern England.”