GB Railfreight (GBRf), one of the UK’s leading transporters of goods for businesses and consumers, has signed a 12-month agreement with leading renewable energy company Drax to use Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) for its rail freight services. Throughout 2025, GBRf will operate its rail freight services from The Port of Liverpool and The Port of Tyne to Drax Power Station in Selby, Yorkshire, exclusively on HVO.
Since 2016, GB Railfreight’s trains have moved over 15m tonnes of sustainable biomass between Peel Ports, Liverpool and Drax Power Station in Selby, Yorkshire. The biomass hauled by these 10,000 train journeys – equivalent to three journeys per day – helps Drax Power Station to provide enough power for up to 4 million homes and businesses. The Selby site provides around 8% of the UK’s renewable energy and approximately 4% of the country’s total electricity usage. These services play a critical role in supporting the UK’s energy security and transition to net zero.
This HVO agreement is another milestone in GB Railfreight delivering its decarbonisation strategy, with it recently announcing that its Class 99 locomotives will run solely on electricity or renewable fuels like HVO. Marketed as one of the ‘world’s greenest fuels’, HVO is synthetically produced through the hydro-treatment process using vegetable oils or animal fats, this significantly reduces the harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions when used in diesel locomotives.
John Smith OBE, Chief Executive Officer at GB Railfreight, said: “We’ve had a strong relationship with Drax for over twelve years and I’m delighted that, together, we’ve agreed to use HVO to deliver our services.”
“This is one of many initiatives within GB Railfreight’s carbon reduction plan that will support the UK Government achieve its ambitions to make the UK a clean energy superpower.”
Mark Gibbens, Head of Logistics at Drax, said: “This agreement marks an important step in our commitment to sustainability and innovation in transport. By exclusively using HVO for rail services, we are reducing our supply chain emissions and supporting the transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy solutions. We are proud to continue our long-standing partnership with GB Railfreight, helping drive both energy security and the UK’s decarbonisation goals forward.”
Image credit: GB Railfreight
