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The story
British Rail
The idea of shipping freight in set-sized containers went back to the 1930s in the UK with the adoption of the Conflat system. But it was Dr Richard Beeching who, in his report Reshaping Britain's Railways, advanced the concept of containerised freight in the UK.
Beeching proposed 55 depots placed strategically across the UK, serviced by fixed-consist permanently coupled air-braked trains, with an average journey between depots of 150 miles (240 km) and a shortest distance of 50 miles (80 km). British Rail progressed with the concept, envisaging 40-foot (12 m) length wagons – later increased to 60 ft (18 m) – carrying 8 ft × 8 ft × 8 ft (2.4 m × 2.4 m × 2.4 m) standard sized international shipping containers in lengths of 10 to 27 ft (3.0 to 8.2 m), later adapted to 20 to 40 ft (6.1 to 12.2 m). These BR UK-adopted standards were formed on the basis of analysis of then current international intermodal practise, and later adopted as the base of the internationally agreed ISO 668. Containers would be loaded at the dedicated inland terminals, using gantry cranes for transshipment between road and rail.
During January 1964, the prototype flat wagon was produced by Shildon railway works; later that same year, 100 production wagons were turned out from Ashford railway works. The first revenue-earning train ran between York Way/Maiden Lane in North London and Gushetfaulds in Glasgow on 15 November 1965. Soon adopting the Freightliner name, the first single-shipper train was operated on 20 August 1968, hauling specially designed 30-foot (9.1 m) containers carrying parts for Ford Escort cars that were destined for assembly in plants on the European mainland.
Freightliner Ltd (1968)
Beeching's original concept envisioned Freightliner servicing a domestic freight market, which by 1968 had resulted in British Railways developing 17 purpose-built depots. However, Freightliner's most profitable routes were those servicing Britain's major ports, specifically traffic to/from continental Europe and Ireland, as well as import/export traffic to the rest of the world. This pattern of profitability was recognised in the Transport Act 1968, whereby Freightliner became a separate listed commercial company wholly owned by the UK Government, but which leased its UK domestic rail transport from British Railways.
By the end of the 1960s, Freightliner operated 28 terminals and 56 routes, however, the company's shift in focus from the original domestic freight market to the international market serviced via ports continued for the next 30 years, with many of the original domestic depots which did not service port traffic either never opening or eventually closing (i.e.: Kings Cross, Sheffield, Swansea, Swindon), whilst investment in seaport depots – specifically Southampton, Harwich, and the Port of Felixstowe where Beeching's plan had never envisaged a depot – continued at an increasing pace. Part of the consolidation of rail depots was enabled by a greater focus on Freightliner's own HGV network of dedicated lorries, which expanded the servicing footprint of each rail depot, and hence allowed increased efficiency through creating longer and better utilised train routes.
Dudley Freightliner Terminal, 10 miles (16 km) from Birmingham, on the site of the old railway station was opened in October 1967. This initially proved to be one of the most profitable such terminals in the country, while the Birmingham terminal was ultimately one of the least financially viable. In 1981, due to a lack of international traffic, Freightliner was planning to close Dudley and transfer its function to Birmingham. Given a reprieve in 1983, it finally closed during 1986.
Increasing Irish traffic resulted in a depot being opened at the Port of Holyhead, as well as Freightliner having dedicated operations in both Belfast and Dublin. This also resulted in UK Government granting Freightliner funds to create a dedicated multimodal terminal at the Port of Liverpool to replace its previously lost rail freight traffic, and then further investment in second multimodal terminals at both Felixstowe and the Port of Tilbury.
Return to British Railways
The Transport Act 1978 brought Freightliner back inside the control of British Railways, mostly driven by the investment required to
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ease the rail network's loading gauge restrictions that hampered the transport of shipping containers 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) and 9 ft (2.7 m) in height.
Freightliner immediately made a major pitch to the BR Board to allow 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) containers to be carried on the East Coast Main Line (ECML), which involved lowering the track in Stoke area, as well as in Peascliffe and Penmanshiel tunnels (in Lincolnshire and the Scottish Borders, respectively). The alterations were successfully completed at Stoke and Peascliffe, but Penmanshiel Tunnel collapsed in March 1979 while work was underway, killing two workers and severing the ECML between Edinburgh and Berwick. The extent of the collapse meant that reconstruction was considered to be too dangerous and expensive, so the tunnel was bypassed by a new section of line constructed in an open cutting slightly to the west of the original alignment that opened five months later in late August. Freightliner later withdraw its services on that stretch of the ECML.
During the 1980s, Freightliner became part of BR's 1980s non-bulk Railfreight Distribution (RfD) division, which brought about its first ever allocation of locomotives. After experimenting with other rail operators solutions to coping with the new larger containers, in 1990 BR agreed the order of 700 flat-wagons from SNCF supplier Arbel Fauvet Rail, which could immediately accommodate 8 ft 6inch height containers at 75 mph speeds. This was further supplemented in 1991 with leased flat-wagons from Tiphook. Further experimentation with SNCF-leased Multifret flat-wagons – which could accommodate 9 ft containers at speeds of up to 90 mph (140 km/h) – led to an order of 45 BR-specified "Lowliner" wagons with a deck height of only 720 mm (2 ft 4 in), which allowed the transport of 9-foot-high containers on routes approved for 8 ft 6 in containers using the existing wagon fleet.
Although designed to accommodate 9 ft containers over the entire BR network, the slow delivery of Lowliners meant that the entire allocation was utilised instead to carry 8 ft 6 in containers on trains to and from London Thamesport, circumventing the restricted clearances on the former South Eastern & Chatham Railway. The withdrawal of Sealink's dedicated freight service from Holyhead also brought about the end of Freightliner's dedicated service to Northern Ireland via North Wales.
Privatisation - Freightliner (1995) Ltd
As part of the Privatisation of British Rail, the loss-making RfD division came under increasing pressure, leading to the immediate closure of the Speedlink division. Freightliner closed the residual domestic-serving depots, including London's Willesden and Stratford, Bristol (closed in 1992, later reopened in 2014) Glasgow Gushetfaulds, and consolidation of Manchester's traffic on the newly opened Euroterminal (later switched back to the previously closed Trafford Park).
The Freightliner business unit had its assets transferred into a new company, Freightliner (1995) Limited, in preparation for sale. Rejected as not sufficiently profitable by English Welsh & Scottish Railway, on 25 May 1996, Freightliner was purchased in a management buyout backed by 3i and Electra Private Equity for a sum of £5.4 million. As part of the sale agreement, the UK Government awarded the company a track-access grant of £75 million up until the year 2000.
Freightliner's immediate need was for improved reliability from its locomotive fleet. During 1997, the company commissioned Brush Traction to rebuild of six of its Class 47 locomotives to create the Class 57, which was fitted with reconditioned General Motors power units and reworked ex-Class 56 alternator groups. The first of these was released in July 1998, and coincided with the unveiling of the new British Racing Green Freightliner livery. After an evaluation period, Freightliner was sufficiently impressed to order a further six in June 1999, with plans for an eventual fleet of 25. However, in actuality, no additional Class 57 locomotives were delivered to Freightliner, largely due to the company opting to place orders for new-built Class 66s, all being leased from Porterbrook.
During 1999, Freightliner established its Heavy Haul business. In March 2004, Freightliner launched Logico, providing short-term or one-off spaces on intermodal trains, it is typically active at major British freight hubs such as the South Wales International Terminal and the Port of Felixstowe. By 2014, Freightliner was actively trying to increase such trains in response to requests for higher service frequencies from ports.
During 2007, Freightliner commenced operations in Poland; its primary activity in the Polish market has been the haulage of aggregates and coal traffic.
Post-privatisation
On 13 June 2008, Freightliner Group was purchased by Railinvest Holding Company Limited, a subsidiary of Arcapita Bank of Bahrain.
On 30 June 2009, Freightliner commenced operations in Australia, having secured an initial contract with Namoi Cotton Co-operative to haul containerised processed cotton traffic in New South Wales. Over the following six years, it would become an accredited rail service provider in Western Australia, Southern Australia and Queensland, as well as expanding into hauling coal and other agricultural traffic for various customers in New South Wales.
In February 2015, as part of the sale of Freightliner from Arcapita Bank to Genesee & Wyoming, the latter purchased a 95% shareholding which increased to 100% in 2020. At the time of the acquisition, Freightliner's portfolio comprised approximately 250 standard gauge locomotives along with 5,500 wagons, and had a headcount in excess of 2,500 employees worldwide.
On 12 November 2015, British Rail Class 47 No. 47830 (D1645), which is operated by Freightliner, was named Beeching's Legacy to mark 50 years since the first container train ran under British Rail.
In April 2018, Freightliner unveiled its new brand identity during an event at the NEC Birmingham, bringing the brand inline with parent company Genesee & Wyoming.
On 1 July 2019, it was announced that Freightliner's parent company Genesee & Wyoming is to be bought for US$8.4 billion by a consortium including Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, GIC and Brookfield's institutional partners.
In April 2024, Freightliner UK and Europe split from G&W becoming sister companies, since they were both still owned by Brookfield and GIC.
In September 2025, Freightliner agreed terms to sell the UK intermodal container business to CMA CGM. The sale was completed in January 2026. The UK heavy haul business and European operations were not included in the sale and was retained by Freightliner's existing owners. As the Freightliner brand was included in the sale, the heavy haul business was rebranded Heavy Haul Rail.
From Wikipedia’s article on Freightliner Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5