Tesco has launched a new rail freight service, taking thousands of lorries off the road.
The new service will be operated by Direct Rail Services and will run from Tesco’s Daventry distribution centre to Trafford Park in Manchester.
This is the tenth service to be operated by DRS for Tesco and will be a 260 mile round trip – yet reduced CO2 emissions by 76% when compared to road haulage.
According to NTS’ Gottfried Eymer, 12,000 containers are transported by rail each month, ensuring the shelves of Tesco stores are well stocked for customers.
“This new service is an excellent addition to the fantastic work we do with Tesco.
Gottfried Eymer, NTS Rail Managing Director
Responses
A superb example by Tesco of economically shifting huge quantities of goods in a manner safe to the environment, are the likes of ASDA, Morrisons, Sainsbury and the German supermarkets (Lidl and Aldi) following Tesco’s example.
A good idea & service that more should adopt. Sadly many potential service lines seem to have been lifted or built over. That or the potential for moving stock appears to have been neglected. In Stafford for example a large Tesco store sits adjacent to the West Coast Main Line & with some careful planning/negotiation large amounts of stock could be delivered to a now redundant railway building. I often wonder ‘what if …’
Ever thought how it gets from the train to the store, & it’s only ever long life products
It’s the trunk bit that counts. Anyone who uses the motorways knows there’s still too much going by road. ‘Operation Stack’ on the M20 (when there is Channel disruption) makes me laugh at all the HGVs we are clearly over dependent on.
As the saying goes, “every little helps”.
No, Tesco Trains won’t deliver every product to every store, but shifting large quantities of non-perishable goods between regional distribution centres will make a significant reduction to the number of road miles needed to keep the shelves fully stocked.
Saw a Tesco train going north through Oxenholme recently with 39 containers – brilliant keeping all those heavy artics off the road. OTHER Supermarkets take note please!
Totally agree, Tesco are way ahead of the pack with this. HGVs will never beat rail when it comes to shifting big loads over long distances.
Makes the recent decision by Royal Mail even more shameful