March 2001

Isotrak, the vehicle tracking and fleet management specialist, is one of the participants in a futuristic project to transfer freight from road to rail. This summer trials are due to be held with a special "mini" train just 90 metres long, which can carry the equivalent of four truckloads of freight at passenger train speeds.

The other partners in the project are logistics group Exel and engineering group AMEC, which will provide train design technology and a custom-built project management communication and information system. Together the three companies have been awarded £2.1 million in research funding by the Strategic Rail Authority ­ an arrangement now ratified by the EC.

The trial project will involve moving loads of cider for Bulmers from Hereford to London, Scotland and the north-east of England. Bulmers ceased using rail freight in the early 1990s.