At 11:30 this morning, GB Railfreight’s Class 66 locomotive 66775 HMS Argyll entered the reinstated railhead at Link Park Heathrow, Thorney Mill in West London, the first since services ceased and the railhead disappeared in 2013.
We were familiar with the Thorney Mill site, having investigated its potential as a railhead for a number of client enquiries over the last decade. In August 2018 we were asked by the site owners, Link Park Heathrow, to explore the feasibility of reinstating the rail sidings on site to create a new facility for handling bulk materials. By this time all trace of the former sidings had gone (see the before and after satellite photos below).
We set to work designing a layout to maximise the length of train which could be stabled in the proposed railhead site boundary, developing a draft Method of Work statement covering the operation of trains on and off site.
We procured the contract to undertake the trackworks on site, contractor KGJ Price undertaking the works during some unseasonably good weather in January and February 2019. Like an archaeological dig, the former sidings were retrieved from beneath a layer of compacted fill, the trackwork lifted and relaid to the new layout, with replacement sleepers and rails as required.
With the works complete, one of Link Park Heathrow’s occupiers, Ashville Aggregates, commenced discussions with the rail freight industry regarding the importation of aggregates by rail into the site. From this, rail freight operator GB Railfreight offered to carry out a test run to and from the main line across the new sidings, culminating in this morning’s successful operation.
For further enquiries contact:
Ashville Aggregates: 020 7736 0355
Link Park Heathrow: 020 7824 9260
UPDATE: the first loaded train arrived into site on 16th July, the second fully-loaded train arrived today (18th July)
Intermodality - transport consultants 