Rail firm secures SSI deal

Freight haulier GB Railfreight (GBRf), has won the contract, worth an unspecified amount, for transporting molten iron and steel slab around the 70km of tracks on the Redcar site.

The ten year contract will see GBRf take on up to 35 staff, as well as investing in eight new locomotives.

The jobs are on top of around 1,000 new staff, from a wide range of backgrounds and ages, joining 700 workers who remained at the former Teesside Cast Products plant following its mothballing by Tata Steel, formerly Corus, in February last year.

Thai firm SSI took over the facility in a £291m deal in March and steelmaking is due to restart on December 8.

GBRf project manager Jim Macfadyen, said: "It's very good to be working with SSI, we have a good relationship and are working together, taking a co-operative and teamwork based approach to the start-up."

GBRf managing director John Smith added: "GBRf winning this work is a huge credit to everyone who works here as SSI were very impressed with the people they met through the tender process and the attitude of the business in general.

"This contract is testament to GBRf's continued diversification and commitment to moving into new areas."

A spokesman for SSI said: "This is another important step for us in preparing for the restarting of operations."

The contract will see GBRf operating all of the internal rail operations at the plant.

It will also involve maintenance of track and equipment, and the construction of new unloading bays and additional sections of track. The first of these will be an unloading bay, which will bring wagons loaded with scrap into the steel production facility, improving the capacity and efficiency of the scrap metal handling.

Secondly, there will be an extension to the track that goes through the hot steel slab production bay, where the finished product is moved from the casting line for cooling prior to shipment.