CEMEX has made another strategic investment in its Selby asphalt plant and depot to enhance its overall operational efficiency. The Selby site supplies high-quality aggregates and asphalt across the Yorkshire region in northern England.
Together with Bowker, its logistics partner at Selby, and Potter Space, owners of the business park where Selby is located, more than £200,000 has been invested into new rail freight infrastructure and facilities. This will ensure the ongoing reliability of the service from this site and enabling the team to increase the number of trains that can run a week.
Considerable improvements have been made to the track that travels off the mainline and into the Selby depot. Following the investment, around 70% of the track has been completely replaced, with other upgrades such as concrete sleepers made to improve the condition of the track further and the installation of new loading bays.
Additionally, Bowker has made significant investment in its stone discharge facilities at Selby, upgrading safety features to go beyond legislative requirements and making significant improvements to equipment and enhancing critical components, increasing reliability.
Neil Bowker, Bowker’s commercial director, said: “The features, including new guards and fencing, are focussed on operator safety; and in general, the improvements will deliver reductions in downtime during critical discharge periods. The significant investment demonstrates the commitment Bowker have made to the CEMEX partnership.”
As a result of the Selby site developments, the team has been able to increase the number of services run from this depot to three a week. This means an extra 90,000 tonnes of material can be moved by train, taking trucks off the road and maximising the use of rail as a sustainable mode of transport. All this helps support CEMEX’s climate objectives and minimises its impact on the environment.
Dave Hart, CEMEX’s Supply Chain director for UK and France, commented: “We continue to invest heavily into our rail operations across the country, as this allows us to grow volumes and increase the services we offer. The works at Selby were the latest part of our development programme. It was fantastic to partner with Bowker and Potter Space on the many improvements that have been made – improvements that will enable us to better and more safely support our customers.
“Enhancing the sustainability of our business is a key priority, and the use of rail forms an important part of this – as every rail freight service removes trucks from the road and achieves additional carbon savings. These investments help us to support CEMEX’s climate initiatives and be a more responsible company.”
Jason Rockett, managing director of Potter Space, added: “Potter Space has a proven track record of working together with customers, so we were pleased to work in partnership with both CEMEX and Bowker at our Potter Space Selby business park. All three parties recognise the value and benefit of rail transportation, so we were delighted to jointly invest in the new rail infrastructure to help meet the needs of CEMEX and support its long-term business plans.”
These improvements come as part of a wider investment into Selby, with £500,000 planned for three new bitumen tanks and a reprocessed asphalt system. These will help to achieve further operating efficiencies and minimise waste while improving safety and customer service.
