Hope Construction Materials and DB Schenker Rail UK have have signed a five-year partnership contract for transport services.

The agreement covers the transport of aggregates from the quarry at Dowlow near Buxton in the UK to 10 locations across Britain. In 2015 a new depot was opened in Walsall, West Midlands, with further depots planned to open during the contract. Coal is also conveyed twice per week from South Wales to the cement plant in Hope.

The locomotive naming ceremony was performed

by Geoff Spencer, CEO of DB Schenker Rail UK

 (pictured left) and  Chris Plant, CEO of

Hope Construction Materials

Chris Plant, CEO of Hope Construction Materials, said: “Our investment in our Walsall Plant means that we can now bring in aggregates by rail from our quarry near Buxton in Derbyshire; and we can also bring in cement by rail from our Works at Hope, also in Derbyshire. This in turn means that we have all the key ingredients for concrete here on one site, ready to provide a slick and efficient first class supply service to construction companies in this very busy area.”

Locomotive naming ceremony
The two companies celebrated by further cementing their relationship when DB Schenker Rail UK’s Class 60 locomotive (60044) was named Dowlow, in honour of the company’s Dowlow Quarry in Derbyshire. The naming ceremony took place at the official opening of Hope’s new GBP1.2m upgraded site in Walsall which includes a railhead and concrete plant.