Editing Railfreight Distribution

{{Short description|Sub-sector of British Rail}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox company
| name             = Railfreight Distribution
| logo             = Railfreight Distribution logo.svg
| logo_size        = 150
| caption          = 
| type             = State owned
| traded_as        = 
| genre            = <!-- Only used with media and publishing companies -->
| fate             = Split into regional sectors for privatisation
| predecessor      = Split off from [[Railfreight]] in 1988.
| successor        = 1995: [[Freightliner Group|Freightliner]] (Intermodal)<br><br>1996: [[DB Cargo UK|English Welsh & Scottish]] (Wagonload)
| foundation       = 1987
| founder          = 
| defunct          = 1995
| location_city    = 
| location_country = 
| location         = 
| locations        = 
| area_served      = 
| key_people       = 
| industry         = Rail freight
| products         = 
| services         = [[Intermodal freight transport|Intermodal]] and [[Wagonload freight]]
| revenue          = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income       = 
| aum              = <!-- Only used with financial services companies -->
| assets           = 
| equity           = 
| owner            = 
| num_employees    = 
| parent           = [[British Rail]]
| divisions        = [[Speedlink]] (Wagonload) and Freightliner (Intermodal)
| subsid           = 
| homepage         = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} -->
| footnotes        = 
| intl             = 
}}

'''Railfreight Distribution''' was a sub-sector of [[British Rail]], created by the division in 1987 of British Rail's previous [[Railfreight]] sector.  It was responsible for non-trainload freight operations, as well as Freightliner and [[Intermodal freight transport|Intermodal]] services. In its early years, the division was occasionally referred to as '''Speedlink Distribution'''. It was later responsible for freight operations through the [[Channel Tunnel]].

==History==
In the 1980s, freight traffic on the railway was in decline, due to a mixture of increased competition from [[road transport]], a shrinking network that had reduced rail's reach and a decline in the domestic manufacturing industry, reducing internal demands for raw materials and transport of finished product for export. By the late 1980s, British Rail  In October 1988, took three troublesome divisions of their freight operations; Speedlink ([[wagonload]]), Freightliner ([[Intermodal container|Container]]), Railfreight International (International traffic) and merged them into one entity, Railfreight Distribution. 
<ref name="Gourvish">{{cite book |last1=Gourvish |first1=Terry |last2=Anson |first2=Mike |title=British Rail, 1974-97: From Integration to Privatisation |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-926909-2 |pages=283–291 |edition=Paperback}}</ref> 

In 1991, following multiple years of losses, Speedlink was shut down. The losses were largely related to the costs involved with [[Shunting (rail)|operations]] at [[Classification yard|marshalling yards]] and drop off and pick up of wagons at sidings amounted to 80% of total expenses. It was determined services only became economical if the wagons were moving over {{convert|500|mi|km}}, or in at least 10 wagon loads daily.<ref name="Gourvish"/> However, approximately 70% of former Speedlink traffic was transitioned to more efficient trainload operations via trunk-haul or contracted train-loads.<ref name="Gourvish"/> Railfreight Distribution turned its sights on the [[Channel Tunnel]], which it would be responsible for conveying freight trains through, in cooperation with French train operator [[SNCF]]. Lessons learned from the elimination of wagonload operations created a push to emphasise and expand long-distance trips, such as Freightliner container traffic from ports in [[Port of Felixstowe|Felixstowe]], [[Port of Southampton|Southampton]], and [[London Thamesport]]. This push also would position Railfreight Distribution for an expected increase in freight traffic from [[Europe]] with the opening of the Channel Tunnel during the mid-1990s. However, this traffic would not materialize until after 2000.<ref name="Gourvish"/>

==Division and sale==
With the [[privatisation of British Rail]], the [[Intermodal freight transport|intermodal]] business was split off in 1995 to form a separate company called [[Freightliner Group|Freightliner]]. In 1997, Railfreight Distribution was bought by [[DB Cargo UK|English Welsh & Scottish]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/br-prefers-us-firm-as-freight-bidder-1316014.html|title=BR prefers US firm as freight bidder|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=26 December 1996}}</ref>

==Locomotives==
By the end, the fleet included several [[British Rail Class 47|Class 47s]], a group of [[British Rail Class 86|Class 86s]], a single [[British Rail Class 87|Class 87]] (87101), a fleet of [[British Rail Class 90|Class 90s]], and [[British Rail Class 92|Class 92s]], most of which were in store awaiting acceptance. Some of these were owned by [[European Passenger Services]] and [[SNCF]] and these were operated as a common user pool. The fleet was primarily based at [[Tinsley Motive Power Depot|Tinsley]] and [[Crewe Works|Crewe]] Electric Depots at the time of privatisation, although many other depots were utilised during Railfreight Distribution's existence, mainly for [[Switcher|shunting locomotives]].

==Liveries==
[[File:90021 at York.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Revised Railfreight Distribution livery, as carried by [[British Rail Class 90|90021]] at [[York railway station|York]] on 3 June 2004.]]
In 1987, it introduced a new livery of two-tone grey similar to those adopted by the [[Trainload Freight]] and [[Railfreight|Railfreight General]] sub-sectors, with a logo consisting of two red diamonds on a yellow background offset on top of a red square. In 1992 in anticipation of the opening of the Channel Tunnel, the livery was revised to the 'European' version with a dark grey upper bodyside, a light grey lower bodyside, a blue coloured roof and 'Railfreight Distribution' lettering on the bodyside. Also in 1992, three Class 90/1s, (90128, 90129 and 90130), were given "continental" liveries of [[National Railway Company of Belgium|NMBS/SNCB]] blue, [[Deutsche Bahn]] red and [[SNCF]] grey to mark the Freightconnection Conference. Each loco was named "Freightconnection" in the livery's appropriate language. These three Class 90s were later reverted to their original 90/0 configuration

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite magazine|title=RfD's Driving Ambition|first=Pip|last=Dunn|magazine=[[RAIL (magazine)|RAIL]]|issue=316|publisher=EMAP Apex Publications|date=22 October – 4 November 1997|pages=20–23|issn=0953-4563|oclc=49953699}}
*{{cite magazine|title=Good-bye Railfreight Distribution|magazine=[[RAIL (magazine)|RAIL]]|issue=346|publisher=EMAP Apex Publications|date=16–29 December 1998|page=14|issn=0953-4563|oclc=49953699}}

{{British Rail}}
{{British freight operators}}

[[Category:British Rail freight services]]
[[Category:DB Cargo UK]]
[[Category:Rail freight companies in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British Rail subsidiaries and divisions]]


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