You can travel north to the eastern half of the continent, London to Edinburgh on the main road, and John Smith’s office received by colleagues last year.
The huge sign, which stands meters from the line just north of Petrieburg station, carries the Sunderland AFC logo alongside two arrows, one pointing 85 miles south to Wembley, the other 188 miles to the club’s Stadium of Light. “The guy who did it was a Newcastle supporter, so through gritted teeth,” said Smith, the GB Railfreight boss and lifelong Sunderland fan.
The sign stands next to the maintenance station – the first station owned by GB Railfreight after it was launched in 1999.
Initially a branch of the now-defunct railways operator GB Railways Group, the freight business that Smith had been asked to launch was intended to make the most of the new opportunities following rail privatization in the mid-1990s.
Since winning the first contract in 2001, GB Railfright has become one of the largest freight companies in the UK, alongside DB Cargo and Freightliner, operating 173 trains and employing more than 1,400 people. In that time its ownership has changed four times, M&G Infrastructure is the undercapitalized arm of its current owner, but Smith has remained at the top of the company.
It also diversified from shipping during this period, with GB Railfreight operating all trains to support the Elizabeth line through the tunnels, also taking care of drivers of the Caledonian sleeper train between London and Scotland.
But transporting goods is its core business. This includes moving aggregate for construction, fuel for power stations (such as the Drax coal plant in Selby, North Yorkshire), and large vessels from the UK deep sea in Southampton, Felixstowe and London Gateway near Thurrock in Essex.
Baths are in his blood. Smith was born in Weston-on-Mare, Somerset, but moved around a lot due to his father working for the RAF. Alnwick in Northumbria looks back on the place where he spent his formative years – especially as he wanted to support the football team.
A teenage trainspotter, he says he would often point out that his mum had just visited nearby York station before traveling to London to look for new trains. He even admits that he has a model bath in his garage, which he continues to enjoy when he gets time between full-on managing trains.
“Back when he was growing up, he did what the boys did, and to a very few he wore them in the bathroom,” he said.
After graduating as an apprentice at a vehicle operator in York, he then became an engineer. After receiving his national certificate, he studied at Loughborough University before embarking on a four-decade career in the railways, 25 of these leading GB Railfreight. “Railways were important to bring back national energy back then because it allowed you to go: here, there and everywhere,” he said.
However, while nationalization offers opportunities for early life, it has exceptions over whether Labor plans to fully renationalise passenger services will fix all the UK’s railway problems.
“There will be many good people who will be buried in the way they put all this, the laws, the bill through the council,” he said. “So it’s going to be different, and it’s kind of moving by train from A to B.”
It has been largely kept in the national movement, but Smith fears that there could be some impacts on the business, especially if transporters lose protections under the legislation.
“If the rules are not clear, for example, the mayor of Manchester would say, ‘I don’t want freight trains running through Manchester tom to Trafford Park. I will stop it altogether,’ he said. “If he allows that to happen, it’s a risk.”
Smith clearly knows the task of returning to the front. He greets every colleague he bumps into at City HQ by first name and can talk in detail about the status of each of his trains as we walk through the middle of the business, the place of operation.
Speaking straight, he describes the former transport secretary as a “fool” as he tells the story of how he will have to explain how much the UK’s economy relies on deep sea imports.
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It is also not afraid to criticize the government in the courts when it disagrees, even the deal shocked the unions to end the long-running lawsuits that have corrupted the transportation services for two years. “I was surprised,” said he, “that a summary without fruits” had been reached. “I think it is fair to say, especially after the two years of disruption suffered by the traveling public, when nothing a little surprising seemed to come out of it.”
But it is the chancellor’s Rachel Rector’s budget that she reserves as her biggest criticism, describing it as “brutal” in business. “What they decided to do in the budget is not at all business friendly and that applies to many businesses,” said Cicero.
“It’s about people acting entrepreneurially, it’s about developing things, and you have a sense of negativity.”
In 2023, the company made an operating profit of £28 million on revenues of £321m. Smith says the environmental benefits of transporting goods by rail rather than by road are obvious. GB Railfright estimates that the average freight train carries as many as 129 lorries, and reduces emissions by 74%.
And it intends to go further, investing £150m – its biggest ever investment – in a fleet of 30 new electric-plus-diesel bi-mode locomotives, whose engines run on vegetable oil and significantly reduce emissions. The environmental benefits are recognized by the government, which has set a target of increasing rail transport by 75% by 2050.
However, despite these targets, Smith feels the plans will still benefit road transport more than rail. It shows the fuel of the office, which has been concrete since 2011, as the first example.
“For the last five years, since we’ve been paying access and tracking charges for fuel, the cost of the truck has gone up 25%, while the fuel hasn’t gone up at all,” he said, explaining his obstacles to making the journey. at least 200 miles to be able to compete in price.
Despite the headwinds the UK business faces, Smith says the company will continue to invest in its business and fleet to make it greener and more sustainable and secure its long-term future.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to be using diesel engines for 20 years, when I’m under six feet, they’re not going to be transportation advocates,” he said, getting ready for the next meeting. . His mode of travel? Rail, of course.
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Age 63
Family Lesia is married with two sons, Mark and Leksi.
Education Archbishop Holgate’s school of York; mechanical engineering at Loughborough University.
Salary The company’s top employee received 657,000 in salary and performance-related benefits in 2022, according to company reports.
Last holiday Maurice
The greatest regret He missed the 1973 FA Cup victory for Sunderland.
He was given the best advice “Makes sense” engraved on the inside of my wedding ring.
He overuses words or sentences “We are where we are.”