SYSTRA UK

World leading rail and urban transport engineers

Rail Freight

Escalating oil prices have given an impetus to the switch from road to rail, throughout the world, for passenger and for freight. Freight by rail is an attractive option on environmental, social and economic grounds. Our expertise on rail freight extends from planning and design of conventional rail freight systems to developing the signalling and on-board technology for high-speed rail freight trains.

When designing High-Speed 1 in the 1990s, SYSTRA made provision for a rail freight cross-Channel service by incorporating freight loops into the system, so that slower running freight trains could be overtaken by faster passenger traffic. With plenty spare capacity on the line, we were then asked in 2010 to develop the in-cab signalling system for DB Schenker Class 92 freight trains.