{"id":187387,"date":"2025-03-18T01:58:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T15:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/?p=72063"},"modified":"2025-03-18T01:58:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T15:58:49","slug":"db-cargo-hides-behind-londons-green-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=187387","title":{"rendered":"DB Cargo hides behind London\u2019s green wall"},"content":{"rendered":"

British rail freight operator DB Cargo UK is claiming a first for the industry. Their north London freight terminal at Cricklewood has gone green, in a big way. It\u2019s not just the 18m tall green wall that separates it from nearby residential streets, it\u2019s the overall carbon footprint of the site, which the rail freight operator claims to be \u2026 nil.<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The north London neighbourhood of Brent Cross and neighbouring Cricklewood has been the scene of a vast transformation. A new railway station, new commercial and residential developments, and a sweeping away of the sixties brutalist architecture for which the area had become known. Now, it\u2019s resplendent, with verdant boulevards, trendy shops, stylish apartments \u2026 and a rail freight terminal.<\/p>\n

A living green barrier<\/h2>\n

London has some of the most stringent emissions regulations in the world. The entire city (all 32 boroughs) is a low emissions zone for road traffic. That discourages driving heavy goods vehicles around the region, and very definitely promotes rail freight options. That, at least in part, is behind the extensive efforts DB Cargo has put in to make its Cricklewood terminal as clean as possible.<\/p>\n

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The New Forest of Brent. DB Cargo UK says it’s not just for the birds and the bees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The site, which played a pivotal role in the redevelopment project, has been touted as Britain\u2019s first-ever \u201cnet-zero\u201d terminal, by the operators, DB Cargo UK. If you live there and didn\u2019t even know it was there – there\u2019s a reason for that too. It\u2019s hidden behind a living green barrier that\u2019s already been dubbed the New Forest of Brent.<\/p>\n

Environmental benefits of rail<\/h2>\n

Brent was, by all measures, one of London\u2019s least desirable destinations. Redeveloping it has been an effort that\u2019s largely been ignored outside the north London neighbourhood. It\u2019s been so, because the work has been carried out, to a large extent, by rail. The vast quantities of building materials coming in, and the spoil going out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Cricklewood, we\u2019ve tried to incorporate as much mitigation as we possibly can into our operations which not only has an environmental benefit, but a significant social value too in terms of improving the quality of life for those residents who live nearby,\u201d said Stacie Scullion, DB Cargo UK\u2019s Sustainability Manager. \u201cFor years now we have talked about the environmental benefits of transporting freight by rail rather than road, however, we can make an even bigger contribution towards helping the UK meet its carbon reduction targets by the way we operate our sites,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

HVO, Volvo and Liebherr<\/h2>\n

DB Cargo can point to several initiatives it has undertaken to mitigate the environmental impact of its operations. The 4.58ha Cricklewood site previously housed a collection of light industrial units before planning permission was granted in 2018 to turn it into a rail freight terminal to support the redevelopment of Brent Cross and construction of a new showpiece passenger station nearby (see Brent Cross West at RailFreight.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Brent Cross and Cricklewood looking northwest towards the Wembley Arch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, the company has gone further, and not just at Cricklewood. The operator has been working hard to switch its diesel locomotive fleet over to Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil<\/a> (HVO) fuel and has worked with government departments to help meet mandated targets for a net-zero UK economy by 2050. At Cricklewood, switching from diesel to HVO to fuel its on-site machinery and plant has reduced the site\u2019s Scope 1 emissions by 98 tonnes of CO2e a year (down to just two tonnes). They have invested in more modern and fuel-efficient machinery too. A new Volvo L180H Wheel Loader was recently delivered and a new Liebherr LH40C loading machine is on order. \u201cThe new Volvo wheel loader can do the work of the two ageing loading shovels used previously,\u201d said a spokesman. \u201cThis will reduce our plant machinery fuel consumption to approximately 41,000 litres.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fewer train spotters, more bird watchers<\/h2>\n

Although the Cricklewood site was established to serve the Brent Cross redevelopment project, it has been retained as an operational aggregates terminal, now serving the wider London construction market. Three client companies are resident – Heidelberg Materials, FCC Environment and Capital Concrete which is a joint venture between Brett Group and Breedon. A fourth terminal plot is on the market.<\/p>\n

All this activity hides behind the New Forest of Brent – one of Europe\u2019s largest green acoustic barriers. According to the rail freight operators turned horticulturists at DB Cargo<\/a>, the 18m high barrier is planted with approximately 3,520m2 of native green foliage, and has become a haven for birdlife – including London\u2019s unique flock of bright green ring-necked parakeets. None has yet been heard to say: \u201cWho\u2019s a pretty rail freight terminal then?\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Dennis van der Laan at our sister service RailFreight.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British rail freight operator DB Cargo UK is claiming a first for the industry. Their north London freight terminal at Cricklewood has gone green, in a big way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":72066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,15907,7963,5878,2305,15908,7907,759,12339],"tags":[12159],"class_list":["post-187387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aggregates","category-brent-cross","category-cricklewood","category-db-cargo-uk","category-environment","category-green-acoustic-barrier","category-hvo","category-london","category-ports-terminals","tag-world-cargo-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=187387"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187404,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187387\/revisions\/187404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=187387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=187387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=187387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}