Wagons used for Port Talbot steel flow temporarily withdrawn after "safety issues" found

Wagons used to carry steel slab between Portbury Dock and Port Talbot Steelworks are to re-enter service soon, after “safety issues” led to their temporary withdrawal.

GB Railfreight started carrying slabs in converted KEA wagons (originally built to carry aggregates) on March 3.

However, the cut-down vehicles were taken out of service ten days later and the flow transferred to DB Cargo UK.

A GBRf spokesman said: “There have been some safety issues identified with the wagons used on this flow and, acting with an abundance of caution, appropriate measures are being taken to resolve these accordingly. We are confident that a resolution will be found, and the service will resume soon.”

On March 25, a GBRf Class 66 took 25 KEA wagons from Cardiff Tidal to Exeter Riverside.

VTG Rail UK told RAIL on April 1: “The 25 wagons have undertaken standard maintenance checks in line with normal specifications and the full rake is expected to be back in traffic by next week.”

As this issue of RAIL went to press, the wagons were expected to re-enter traffic and the flow returned to GBRf within the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the growth of traffic into Port Talbot continues. During one week in mid-March, 42 services ran carrying steel slabs and coil: 32 from Newport Docks; five from Cardiff Docks; and five from Portbury. A further five ran between Cardiff and Trostre.

DB Cargo UK is running an average of 20 slab trains a week to and from Newport, along with another ten from Cardiff and seven coil trains to Newport. This is an increase on mid-December, when an average of 16 trains a week were running to and from Newport.

DB has also started rolling out repurposed wagons for its flows. The operator is refurbishing 60 previously covered BAA wagons, with sister company DB Polska manufacturing new 40ft wagon frames in Rybnik, Poland. These are then sent to the UK for final fitting, assembly and testing at DB Cargo UK’s wagon maintenance facility at Stoke, before being taken down to Margam.

The result is an open wagon that can carry steel slab. As of April 4, 28 had been completed and sent to South Wales.

Last year, the freight operator completed the conversion of 29 redundant BYA wagons from covered vehicles into open carriers capable of transporting either hot coil or steel slab.

These flows are set to continue while Tata Steel builds a new electric arc furnace. This is due to be commissioned in late 2027.

Once complete, loaded trains carrying scrap steel could potentially start running into Port Talbot before finished products are taken out.