DCRail extends maintenance deal with UKRL

DCRail has entered a new three-year locomotive servicing contract with Leicester-based UK Rail Leasing to maintain its Class 60 fleet.

Regular examinations will be undertaken at Leicester depot, where UKRL carries out maintenance, overnight servicing, train care and fuelling for a number of rail vehicle types. This contract is a development of the previous agreement that had been in place since April 2022.

DCRail has four Class 60s in traffic (60028/029/046/055), with a fifth (60099) currently being overhauled. It also has 14 other Class 60s for spares or in strategic reserve, and it is anticipated that four or five of these may also be overhauled soon. They are 60008/009/013/022/038/057/060/061/ 064/070/075/080/090/098.

David Fletcher, Director for Rail for the Cappagh Group of Companies, said: “I am very pleased that our relationship with UKRL continues to flourish. Over the past two years, we have worked together to maximise the availability of our locomotive fleet, with the regular ‘B-exams’ now being undertaken in under seven days and overall fleet availability increased to over 90%.

“This is a remarkable achievement on a small fleet of locomotives, for which we plan 75% availability. The ability to minimise fleet downtime means that DCRail can offer customers efficient supply chain solutions, reducing carbon emissions and assisting the move to net zero.

“The businesses have worked together to bring a wide range of improvements to the fleet, ranging from LED lighting to electronic governors. I would particularly like to thank the engineering teams at DCRail and UKRL for all the hard work that continues to go into developing this successful partnership.”

UKRL Managing Director Gareth Roberts added: “The signing of this contract builds upon a long and collaborative relationship between our respective teams.

“Together we’ve not only undertaken core maintenance, but also increased asset availability by significantly reducing downtime. This partnership spirit, underpinned by unrivalled expertise, is now driving a joint focus on adding additional value and capacity to DCRail operations.