CEMEX further enhances sustainable rail operation with summer Investment Programme

Global building materials solutions supplier CEMEX continues to invest in its nationwide rail operation, as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce truck movements and utilise more efficient methods of transport. This aligns with CEMEX’s global sustainability strategy ‘Future in Action – Committed to Net Zero CO2’.

Over the summer months, there has been significant investment by CEMEX into track improvements and extensions at three of its depots; Attercliffe, Small Heath and Bletchley. This work was all completed in partnership with MLP Railway Maintenance Ltd, CEMEX’s chosen provider for these developments.

At Bletchley, 152m of new track with a different alignment to reduce drainage issues and increase the turning circle for delivery vehicles was installed, while 330m was laid at the new depot at Small Heath as part of the new siding, alongside storage bays for efficient offloading.

Finally, at Attercliffe life expired track has been replaced with 196m of track embedded in concrete so that delivery vehicles can safely use the same area in the day as the train does at night. The pre-fabricated track embedded in concrete (supplied by CEMEX’s Urbanisation Solutions business) was chosen for this development to ensure a quick turnaround of work, keeping outages down and minimising the impact on the customer.

Mark Grimshaw Smith, Rail and Sea Manager for CEMEX UK, commented: “The summer months have provided us with the perfect opportunity to complete a considerable programme of investment into track at three of our rail depots. These sites are all very different, and spread out across the country, but they are all important parts of our rail network and ripe for development.

“As our use of trains to transport our materials increases, it is vital that we have the infrastructure in place to support this. Further investment is planned at some of our other UK railheads over the coming months.”

CEMEX’s use of trains to move its building materials is growing year on year, with considerable efforts being made by the business to switch from road freight to rail and sea. In 2020, the increased use of rail transport saved 150,000 road movements & 17.5kt of CO2 from being released into the air.