{"id":301348,"date":"2025-10-14T16:46:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T06:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=66585"},"modified":"2025-10-14T16:46:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T06:46:41","slug":"freightliner-names-locomotive-launches-new-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=301348","title":{"rendered":"Freightliner names locomotive, launches new service"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK rail freight operator Freightliner has named a locomotive in memory of \u2018Donald Malcolm\u2019. The carer has also launched a new Felixstowe\u2013Daventry service. All that and it found time to divest its multimodal business to a new operator. All in all, a fairly busy October so far for the Birmingham registered operator.<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Freightliner has named locomotive 90021 \u2018Donald Malcolm\u2019 in honour of the late Donald Malcolm, at a ceremony at their Midlands base of operations. Donald Malcolm transformed his family-run coal business into The Malcolm Group, one of the UK\u2019s leading providers of logistics, construction, and maintenance services. The ceremony last week (8 October) at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) also marked the launch of a new daily freight service from Felixstowe.<\/p>\n

Honouring a rail freight pioneer<\/h2>\n

The naming event celebrated Donald Malcolm\u2019s contribution to the UK transport and logistics sector, as well as the longstanding partnership between Freightliner and The Malcolm Group. The companies already operate several dedicated trains daily from Daventry to Grangemouth and Mossend in Scotland, helping to take heavy goods vehicles off busy roads while cutting carbon emissions compared with road haulage.<\/p>\n

\"Freightliner
Freightliner and Malcolm Group teams line up for a group shot. Image: \u00a9 Freightliner UK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Malcolm Group branded trains are a frequent sight on the busy West Coast Main Line, Europe\u2019s busiest mixed-traffic route. Tie-ups between logistics operators and rail freight operators are relatively common. The cooperation between Malcolm Group and Freightliner is among the pioneers on the British network. The two partners have a commitment currently running until 2028<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New Felixstowe\u2013Daventry service launched<\/h2>\n

The newly launched Felixstowe\u2013Daventry service will operate out of the Malcolm Group\u2019s new terminal and expand Freightliner\u2019s intermodal network. Locomotive 90021 arrived at DIRFT as part of this first service. Attendees included key customers who will use the new route, alongside Freightliner and Malcolm Group staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fantastic to celebrate the naming of locomotive 90021 in honour of Donald Malcolm, and to launch our new Felixstowe\u2013Daventry service,\u201d said Tim Shoveller, Freightliner Group CEO. We look forward to transporting our customers\u2019 goods efficiently, safely and sustainably on this new route.\u201d Andrew Malcolm, CEO of The Malcolm Group, added that his company was delighted and honoured to be launching this service with Freightliner and naming locomotive 90021 in memory of his late father, Donald Malcolm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporting sustainable supply chains<\/h2>\n

\u201cNaming this locomotive recognises the long heritage of Malcolm Logistics in rail freight,\u201d said invited guest, Maggie Simpson OBE, Director General of the Rail Freight Group, which represents the industry through its wide membership. \u201cTheir new facility at DIRFT 3 [the latest stage of the extensive logistics park] will help more businesses choose rail, continuing a journey that has transformed retail and logistics supply chains.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Multimodal
Multimodal lineup. Malcolm Group truck and train. Image: \u00a9 Freightliner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Malcolm Group, founded in the 1920s, now operates over six million square feet of warehousing, including three rail-connected sites. Malcolm Rail, launched in 2001, offers daily and overnight services connecting ports, production facilities, and distribution terminals, supporting a broad range of intermodal freight users. Freightliner, the UK\u2019s largest maritime intermodal logistics operator, also serves the Heavy Haul market and is part of Freightliner Group Ltd, which operates across Europe. The company recently made a deal to sell its intermodal business to French shipping line CMA CGM (as reported by WorldCargo News<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UK rail freight operator Freightliner has named a locomotive in memory of \u2018Donald Malcolm\u2019. The carer has also launched a new Felixstowe\u2013Daventry service. All that\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"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":[18445,18446,18447,1931,65,6232,78,47,7542,85],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-301348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-andrew-malcolm","category-daventry-international-rail-freight-terminal","category-donald-malcolm","category-freightliner","category-intermodal","category-malcolm-group","category-rail-freight","category-rail-news","category-tim-shoveller","category-uk","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301348","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=301348"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301909,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301348\/revisions\/301909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=301348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=301348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=301348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}