British railway EWS wants CEP firms to take the train

EWS, Britain’s largest rail logistics operator, has appealed to companies in the mail andparcels sector to see how they can gain faster deliveries and lower costs by using rail. DHL

EWS outlined the case for courier, express and parcel (CEP) firms to use rail at this week’s UKExpress Delivery conference in Birmingham. The privately-owned railway said that it is the onlyrail freight operator which provides the mail and parcels market with a network of multi-userservices. Its nightly multi-user services from the West Midlands to Scotland are currentlyused by DHL and Business Post.

By transferring parcels for all or some of their journey to EWS services, parcel distributorsgain shorter delivery times, enjoy lower operating costs and avoid the risk of operating truckswith no load on their return journeys. Rail outperforms road transport, EWS said. Its servicesfor the parcel industry have achieved 100% reliability over the last three years. 

Delivering this standard of service day after day has given DHL the confidence to increase theiruse of EWS services.  In the last year, DHL has doubled the number of parcels per night thatthey transport by rail with EWS, with record volumes being transported in the weeks leading up toChristmas.  75% of all DHL’s parcel traffic for Inverness is now being transported byEWS.   

Interest from parcel companies in using rail is high, and plans are being developed by EWS for arange of new multi-user express parcel services, including trains operating to and fromLondon. 

Helene Lyall, EWS Account Manager Logistics said: “A cohesive transition from road to railallows companies to gain the benefits of rail freight almost immediately.  These servicesallow large volumes to be transported by rail on time-sensitive services – a tried and tested soundalternative to trunk routes susceptible to road congestion.  Customers can send goods at timesconvenient to their markets and at speeds almost double that of a heavy goods vehicle.  Welook forward to parcel companies accepting our challenge!”