EWS Energy unveiled at Coaltrans conference
EWS Energy, the newly formed rail haulier for the transport of coal and other fuels for the energy sector, are being presented to coal suppliers and electricity generators at this week’s Coaltrans World Coal Conference in Athens, Greece, prior to the official launch of the new company on 6 November 2006.
The company, which has been formed to focus on the rail transportation needs of the electricity generation industry, is a new concept in Britain and says it will provide added value to its customers by moving coal and other fuels for the energy sector through enhanced service provision.
At the Coaltrans conference, the key annual event for the major players in the coal market, EWS Energy will outline their work to enhance customer service in order to facilitate growth in coal volumes moved by rail, through: operating heavier coal trains on the rail network; increasing the number of double-length trains operating on the network; and outlining the resource and planning benefits for customers using EWS Energy’s stable plan operations.
Following a summer campaign that saw volumes hauled increase by 26%, compared to the previous year, EWS Energy is working with Network Rail to increase the average tonnage hauled per train from the current level of 1,400 tonnes. By operating longer coal trains, 6 million tonnes of haulage capacity has already been created for EWS Energy customers through improved utilization of the company’s current fleet.
Double-length trains allow lager volumes of coal to be delivered to customers on constrained long-haul routes. By combining two services together more coal can be moved in one train path; this, say EWS Energy, represents and innovative way to free up capacity, which will allow even more coal to be delivered. EWS Energy say they also plan to introduced additional double-length coal trains in the near future.
Describing EWS Energy as one of the most significant developments in rail freight in years, managing director, Paul Bates, said: ‘EWS Energy is focused on delivering [coal] for the electricity generation market in Britain. Through our extensive dialogue with the industry, such as at Coaltrans, we are able to deliver services that meet the requirements of this important market.’
EWS Energy will operate an average of 700 coal trains a week.