Varamis Rail ‘Faster, Cheaper, Greener’

The Milton Keynes Branch welcomed Phil Read, Managing Director, Varamis Rail, who gave his presentation “Faster, Cheaper, Greener” outlining the company’s plans. Phil explained that Varamis Rail was targeting the light freight market of parcels and packages, with the aim of getting rail a share of this huge market. The parcels market moves 6bn items annually and is worth £20bn and is growing at a fast rate as British consumers continue to switch to e-commerce.

Varamis’ strategy is to use passenger rolling stock to provide a fast transit that is quicker than road transport and to that end have converted several Class 321 four car electric multiple units with a maximum speed of 100 mph to convey roll cages containing parcels. Apart from removing the seats and installing roll cage restraint mechanisms on the 321 units a minimum of alterations have been made so as not to compromise their existing safety case.

At present Varamis is operating a nightly return trip from Birmingham International to Mossend Down Yard, with the roll cages being loaded/unloaded from existing platforms by Varamis staff. Each Class 321 can convey 132 roll cages, meaning an 8 car train can load 264 roll cages with a maximum 100 parcels per roll cage, i.e. 26,000 parcels per train. The round trip from Birmingham International to Mossend and return is completed in one driver’s shift, making use of the Class 321’s 100 mph maximum speed. Phil explained that this timing is far better than any comparable road transit and, environmentally, saves 2500 tonnes of CO2 compared to the emissions of the equivalent road vehicles.

Varamis are talking to several large retailers and e-commerce companies to expand their customer base and increase the number of services. Varamis has been in contact with Royal Mail, who Phil said had not ruled out the use of rail despite their decision to cease using their Class 325 units. Other routes are under consideration and whilst their present Class 321s are 25kV only the company would look at rolling stock that would be able to access the third rail 750v DC network. However, given their environmental credentials, Varamis would not look to use straight diesel trains.

All in all, a fascinating glimpse at the world of light freight on the British rail network.