Network Rail set to open distribution centre on site of former Peugeot plant

NETWORK Rail will officially open its new distribution centre on Tuesday on the site of the former Peugeot car plant at Ryton, near Coventry.

The 300,000-sq ft national road haulage distribution centre will become part of Solihull-based ‘big shed’ developer Prologis’s Prologis Park Ryton scheme.

The £25m centre, which will create approximately 100 jobs, will be a hub for Network Rail’s national delivery service (NDS) which supplies 150,000 parts nationwide.

Network Rail suggests the centre will also help reduce the cost of the railway by around £5m per year by centralising previously leased properties in Lichfield, Worcester and Ludgershall and will cut its carbon footprint by reducing road fleet mileage.

Martin Elwood, director of Network Rail NDS, said: “Network Rail’s first preference is to transport goods by rail. This is not always the right solution so we have an extensive road fleet to transport goods and equipment to our work sites and depots.

“By bringing the logistics for this together at Ryton we can offer a more effective and efficient service for Network Rail. This will mean reduced costs and faster turnaround times when we do work on the railway.”

The site was acquired from Prologis and the centre started operations in August.

The Peugeot plant closed in 2006.