DB Schenker (English Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd) was launched in
February 1996 after the company acquired four divisions of British
Rail's rail freight operations - Rail Express Systems, Loadhaul,
Transrail Freight and Mainline Freight. This was followed the purchase
of the National Power Rail Unit and British Rail's European division -
Railfreight Distribution.

These divisions were merged to form EWS, a company that was able to
provide customers with a nationwide and European network of rail
freight services, engineering support and services to the rail
industry. All these companies were branded EWS, apart from Railfreight
Distribution which was branded EWS International.

Following the purchase of these rail freight divisions, EWS began a
major £500 million investment programme. This saw the company invest
in, and develop with General Motors, a new innovative generation of
rail freight diesel locomotive - the class 66. The class 66 has
provided exceptional levels of performance and other operators have
followed by ordering this locomotive, making it the diesel freight
locomotive of choice across Europe. The company now has 250 class 66s and they form the backbone of the locomotive fleet.

EWS also worked with General Motors to develop a new high-speed
freight locomotive, which became the class 67. This is the first
freight locomotive in Britain to travel at a maximum speed of 125mph
and the company invested in 30 of these locomotives.

At the same time, a major order was placed for 2,500 new wagons from
US supplier Thrall. Half of these wagons were new high capacity coal
wagons, which have enabled the company to haul greater quantities of
coal per train than ever before.

Since 1996, the company has strongly marketed its nationwide service
abilities and has successfully played a major role in growing rail
freight in Britain. This has increased by over 50% since 1996, and rail
currently has a 12% market share of all land hauled freight in Britain.
Traffic volumes continue to grow and new markets are continually being
won to rail, including fast moving consumer goods.

EWS was bought by Deutsche Bahn in 2007 and, following successful
integration into the overall company structure (which has some 238,000
employees), changed its name in January 2009 to DB Schenker Rail (UK)
Ltd.

DB Schenker offers customers a superior level of service in Britain,
and aims to be the leading rail freight operator across Europe.