UK: RailX has secured a £150 000 loan from NPIF Mercia Debt Finance to enable it to further develop its rail freight booking app and target new customers.
RailX was launched after Steve Freeman, the former Managing Director of Doncaster’s rail terminal iPort Rail, and rail consultant Paul Bathgate recognised that commercial train services typically run below capacity.
‘On any given day there are the equivalent of 20 empty trains running on the rail network’, said Bathgate. ‘Part of the problem is that it is often difficult for smaller companies, or those unable to contract large volumes, to access and book space on trains. Our easy-to-use app takes the pain out of buying rail freight.’
He explained that ’by optimising the existing rail capacity, we can start to bring down costs, increase demand and encourage the modal shift to more sustainable transport’.
