Varamis Rail Given Operators Licence from ORR

[The Planner]

The one the other week when Varamis were complaining on Twitter that BHI was occupied - the outbound 1S04 was actually CA'd due to being foul of multiple possessions (as well as being occupied). It seems Varamis VSTP all their schedules so maybe they ignore what is offered/rejected.

That isnt going to be sustainable at all.

 

[PG]

That isnt going to be sustainable at all.

Having had a peak at companies house, I agree.

 

[Brush 4]

Night lorries regularly have to deal with overnight road closures. A diversion route is signed or, they have Satnav to guide them. Don't rail freight operators get notice of a diversion route, where one exists?

 

[The Planner]

Night lorries regularly have to deal with overnight road closures. A diversion route is signed or, they have Satnav to guide them. Don't rail freight operators get notice of a diversion route, where one exists?

The possessions aren't foisted upon them though, they are all published in the Draft and Confirmed Period Possession plans (DPPP and CPPP), weekly operating notices (WON) and in the Engineering Access Statement (EAS) in terms of the normal and cyclical blocks (section 4 and 5s). High level diversionary routes are published in the traffic remarks, but it doesn't absolve a TOC/FOC of planning around or having to cancel.

 

[dk1]

Night lorries regularly have to deal with overnight road closures. A diversion route is signed or, they have Satnav to guide them. Don't rail freight operators get notice of a diversion route, where one exists?

They would normally sign any diversionary routes or get route conducted by another TOC or FOC. These things unless emergency are planned well in advance.

 

[HSTEd]

The doubling handling issue is going to be a serious cost problem moving forward. Even in the US the bulk of rail carried parcels traffic is essentially TOFC (trailer on flat car) these days. And that isn't really a practical option in the UK given the loading gauge limitations.

 

[Meerkat]

The doubling handling issue is going to be a serious cost problem moving forward. Even in the US the bulk of rail carried parcels traffic is essentially TOFC (trailer on flat car) these days. And that isn't really a practical option in the UK given the loading gauge limitations.

Parcels get handled repeatedly anyway as they go through the trunking system dont they?

 

[HSTEd]

Parcels get handled repeatedly anyway as they go through the trunking system dont they?

The trend in logistics has between towards progressively less handling, and what handling is done is increasingly done by automatic hardware with minimal personnel intervention.

Ideally a system might see a package handled only at two depots, one near the origin point and one near the delivery point.

Loading them into lorries only to unload them to put them on a train to unload them and put them on a lorry is a substantial additional cost.

 

[Meerkat]

The trend in logistics has between towards progressively less handling, and what handling is done is increasingly done by automatic hardware with minimal personnel intervention.

Ideally a system might see a package handled only at two depots, one near the origin point and one near the delivery point.

Loading them into lorries only to unload them to put them on a train to unload them and put them on a lorry is a substantial additional cost.

The parcel itself might not get handled much but the cage it is in - I thought the model was very much trunking rather than lots of trucks from everywhere to everywhere?

 

[D365]

The one the other week when Varamis were complaining on Twitter that BHI was occupied - the outbound 1S04 was actually CA'd due to being foul of multiple possessions (as well as being occupied). It seems Varamis VSTP all their schedules so maybe they ignore what is offered/rejected.

What do these abbreviations mean please.

 

[james_the_xv]

Just had a glance at their twitter - a strange mishmash of all sorts. Gives the vibe of the personal twitter of the CEO.

 

[PG]

Just had a glance at their twitter - a strange mishmash of all sorts. Gives the vibe of the personal twitter of the CEO.

Probably because the company is basically one person...

 

[IndianPacific]

Is there any (known) reason why the Scottish Government, which is widely represented as being far more pro-rail than Westminster on these forums, didn’t do more to ensure that Eurocentral was more Rail orientated?

The Blackford Highland Spring terminal has been the poster child for rail freight in Scotland throughout its lengthy gestation period. But Eurocentral is surely a far bigger opportunity (not only for Varamis).

To be fair (and this is all my speculation), I think they have been fairly supportive where tenants have wanted rail connections. The unit that GXO are now in was built with a rail platform along the back of it (I'm not sure they ever used it, it's now partly concreted over so they can park more trucks), and the site is directly connected to an intermodal terminal (which the BCA (car delivery) site has it's own access to).

The Highland Spring site is slightly separate to their actual factory (basically it's their own little intermodal port a short drive away) so the offer at Eurocentral (via the maritime terminal) is actually very similar.

I'd guess that Morrisons, Lidl or their suppliers do make use of it (the terminal seems busy enough), but not everything at the park suits rail freight (e.g. the newspaper printers or the Scania dealership) and the government / developers can't really control who moves in. Perhaps if it was built a few years earlier, Royal Mail could have taken the GXO site instead of building their own rail connected facility nearby in Wishaw.

I'm pretty sure the intermodal bit was built with some form of government help, then basically that whole area had various incentives to bring employers in. So in terms of jobs created the government probably got the main thing they wanted. They can't win everything.

 

[IndianPacific]

The parcel itself might not get handled much but the cage it is in - I thought the model was very much trunking rather than lots of trucks from everywhere to everywhere?

Parcels (generally) spend a lot of their time loose loaded (just packed in to the van / truck).

Your parcel gets picked up in a van, emptied on to a conveyor at the receiving depot, then picked off the conveyor on to a truck going to the appropriate hub (some sort of north / south / international split depending on the company), the hub does a similar thing from depot truck to depot truck. then again but in reverse at the delivery depot.

Roll cages or pallets might get used for stuff that's 'out of gauge' (wont fit on the conveyor) or to store stuff between it being picked off the conveyor and the delivery driver / van being available to actually load it.

Royal Mail have a more dedicated (and generally different) set up that means their 325 services between hubs can work quite well for them.

 

[Christmas]

How many units are they operating? Are they stabled at Shields depot? I've seen pictures on Flickr of at least one set in the depot.

 

[ayubdaud]

What do these abbreviations mean please.

BHI = Birmingham International
CA'd = cancelled
VSTP = very short term planning

 

[Wyrleybart]

How many units are they operating? Are they stabled at Shields depot? I've seen pictures on Flickr of at least one set in the depot.

Think there is only one in service but I think another five or six 321s went to Wolverton last year, but not sure if they are planned to be parcels converts.

 

[Bald Rick]

Parcels get handled repeatedly anyway as they go through the trunking system dont they?

Not really.

The parcel itself might not get handled much but the cage it is in - I thought the model was very much trunking rather than lots of trucks from everywhere to everywhere?

The logistics systems of most firms that do parcel distribution is set up for overnight next day delivery. Usually with a hub on the ‘Golden Triangle’ - Northampton / Birmingham / East Mids airport area. Two models:

1) orders are taken, fulfilled at a major facility in the Golden Triangle, then dispatched to regional hubs for onward distribution. Handled once into the trailer at the central hub, once out at the regional hub. often loose, by a couple of people with a reach conveyor, who can unload / load a whole trailer in well under an hour.

2) Outbound parcels are concentrated at receiving depots, sent to the hub, sorted, sent back out for delivery, and delivered. Handled 4 times.

As I’ve mentioned many times on these pages, Rail can only effectively compete in this market where there is a substantial point to point flow, and at least one end has a direct rail connection to the national or regional hub. Otherwise the lorry will always win on time and cost.

 

[dannydm1]

My work is hiring qualified HGV drivers at 55k a year - if that is considered cheap now. Train drivers earn a lot, but rail schedules on the main line are a lot faster, so they'll get more trips out of 1 or 2 drivers' shifts.
I wish Varamis well.

Plus you've got to remember the crazy fact that a train driver can work longer hours / drive longer then a trucker and also take less breaks. Potentially they could have a driver booked on for a 12hr shift vs 9hrs on the road.

 

[Tetchytyke]

If the government ever charge HGVs road tax that adequately covers the damage they do then we’ll suddenly see rail become very attractive. Until then, probably not. Most logistics hubs are built near roads not railways- the big Evri hub in Warrington is next to the M6 not the WCML.

Definitely good luck to them, though, and the converted 321 model gives them as good a chance as any.

 

[Carlisle]

It’s been cancelled the last 3 nights, has it finished until Carstairs is done ?

 

[asmith]

Everything has gone very quiet so what's the latest news about the Varamis services please ?

 

[class 9]

It ran 4 days last week, Mossend-Birmingham International- Mossend, only a 5 minute turnround at Birmingham, so if can't be conveying much traffic.

 

[Suraggu]

That grant money must be close to running out surely?

 

[172007]

Their twitter has said restarting next week.
Trying to work out a 5 min turnaround how many rolling cages can be moved. I assume it not exactly level boarding.

 

[Bertie the bus]

One of the runs last week arrived 2 minutes late and departed on time so it was only there 3 minutes. That is barely enough time for the driver to change ends.

All very odd.

 

[Steddenm]

I wonder if these are running in their allocated path empty to "save face" as it were? I doubt they carry much at the moment with the fast turn around at Birmingham.

One of the runs last week arrived 2 minutes late and departed on time so it was only there 3 minutes. That is barely enough time for the driver to change ends.

All very odd.

 

[172007]

I wonder if these are running in their allocated path empty to "save face" as it were? I doubt they carry much at the moment with the fast turn around at Birmingham.

If there is one positive, Carstairs blockade aside, they seem extremely reliable.

 

[Carlisle]

If there is one positive, Carstairs blockade aside, they seem extremely reliable.

It doesn’t appear to have run at all this past week .Has it ceased altogether?

 

[Boodiggy]

The one the other week when Varamis were complaining on Twitter that BHI was occupied - the outbound 1S04 was actually CA'd due to being foul of multiple possessions (as well as being occupied). It seems Varamis VSTP all their schedules so maybe they ignore what is offered/rejected.

I believe they didn’t even properly submit the VSTPs - they just created their own schedules and that is why they clashed with so many possessions