Business Profile
Trust in Victa
Independence from, but close relationships with, key industry players coupled with a strong safety culture and dedication to customer service is providing the basis of significant expansion for Victa Railfreight
E
ver since the privatisation of British Rail’s freight sector, Victa Railfreight has been providing support services to the industry. These services have changed over the years as customer and train operator business models have evolved, but the ethos of the business, safe, efficient, responsive customer service, remains its guiding principle to this day. Formed in 1995, the company’s activities have ranged from transhipping cargoes such as steel, containers, munitions and timber from rail to road at various locations, to providing shunting staff to both private terminal operators and Foc’s. Victa also offers operational support, logistics-related management services and advice to a diverse client base around the UK.
Much of its business profile today stems from its involvement in one of the iconic rail projects of the past twenty five years - construction of the Channel
Tunnel rail link (now HS1). In 1999, the company entered a partnership with Amec Spie Rail Systems to provide rail logistics and operational support for the track laying and overhead line construction contract between the Channel Tunnel and Fawkham Junction in Kent. The team initially worked closely with both contractor and client (Rail Link Engineering - the delivery agent for HS1 construction), on the design and construction of Beechbrook Farm, a railhead built on 90 acres of farmland near Ashford in Kent to service the 60 mile ‘linear’ construction site. The company went on to provide a wide range of services during the construction phase, including logistics and rail traffic planning, rail safety and operations management, real-time control of movements within the railhead and on the construction railway, together with provision of multi-skilled ground staff to cover loco driving, shunting,
and transhipment duties to support the operation. The project, which lasted more than five years and was worth £5.7 million, involved collaboration with a wide range of suppliers to provide resources for the rail operations and saw the company employing 75 people. Innovative, cost-effective solutions were devised, such as hiring 45 year-old Class 20 locomotives from heritage railways to operate overhead line construction trains when original plans to use Railtrack multi purpose vehicles fell through. The involvement with Amec-Spie on Phase 1 led to a similar role on Phase 2 of HS1, between St Pancras and Singlewell where, as well as operating two construction railheads and managing the construction site rail logistics, Victa staff also played a key role in the organisational and operational elements of the extensive testing and commissioning programme. Subsequently, Victa undertook the planning and implementation of steel
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