The UK's largest rail freight company by its own description, headquartered in Doncaster, running trains for construction, steel, waste, biomass, intermodal and other customers across Britain and through the Channel Tunnel.
DB Cargo UK is a rail freight company that describes itself as the UK's largest rail freight services provider. It runs freight, infrastructure and passenger charter trains across Britain and to and from mainland Europe through the Channel Tunnel. Its website lists customers in construction, waste, metals, biomass, automotive, intermodal, rail infrastructure, petroleum and chemicals, and steam rail. It also offers wider logistics services such as door-to-door delivery, warehousing and terminal management, and it hires out locomotives and train crew for passenger operators. It is the UK arm of DB Cargo Group, which is part of Deutsche Bahn.
The company has a long history in the UK. Wikipedia explains that after British Rail's freight businesses were privatised in the mid-1990s, they were combined into English, Welsh and Scottish Railway, known as EWS, which was launched as a brand in 1996. In 2007 it was bought by Deutsche Bahn and went through several renamings, becoming DB Schenker in 2009 and DB Cargo UK in 2016. The company's website does not state a formal mission or values. Its strategy statement says it partners with customers to support their business through safe, high-quality and innovative rail solutions, using its people, assets and service excellence.
The headquarters is in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Wikipedia names Toton in Nottinghamshire as the main maintenance depot and Crewe as the depot that maintains the electric fleet, with other depots handed to other companies over the years. The company's website says it operates throughout the UK. The website's figures from 2019 give about 2,200 employees, 228 locomotives and 36.7 million net tonnes of freight carried in that year, but those numbers are dated and the company has since reduced its fleet, so please check current figures before quoting them.
On people and culture, we found no first-person accounts. The company's website emphasises safety and says it is committed to helping the UK reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and it publishes gender pay gap reports. Wikipedia describes a smaller workforce than in earlier decades, about 7,000 staff in 1997 and about 5,000 at the time of the 2007 purchase. Trade press has reported on changes to the business, so it is wise to read current news before assuming how large the team is now.
A rail freight company employs a wide range of people: drivers, shunters and train crew, planners and controllers who keep trains running to timetable, engineers and technicians at depots such as Toton and Crewe, terminal and logistics staff, safety and compliance teams, commercial and customer service staff, and finance, HR and IT roles at Doncaster. If you like machines, planning or the environment, rail freight offers an unusual mix of heavy engineering and clever scheduling, and it plays a real role in keeping steel, building materials and fuel moving around the country.
Website: uk.dbcargo.com
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