News story

Direct Rail Services lifts 6th Golden Whistle Award

DRS won the prestigious Golden Whistle Award for the sixth time running, when officially declared ‘The Best Performing Rail Freight Operator’.

DRS battled the winter weather to become ‘The Best Performing Rail Freight Operator’.

DRS battled the winter weather to become ‘The Best Performing Rail Freight Operator’.

Organised by the Institute of Railway Operators, in conjunction with Modern Railways Magazine, the annual event celebrates operational excellence in the industry.

The Golden Whistle is awarded annually for consistent arrival times over the previous 12 months - DRS was declared more reliable than any of its competitors.

The award also recognises the hard work and dedication of the DRS team, as well as the strong investment in reliability of the DRS fleet of locomotives and assets.

DRS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and supports its decommissioning mission with its core nuclear transport business.

The Cumbria-based freight company also provides services for other rail market sectors such as intermodal, infrastructure support services, passenger and charters.

NDA Commercial Director, Kate Ellis, said:

DRS makes a vital contribution to NDA’s decommissioning mission and I am delighted for the team at DRS to have won such a prestigious award, once again reflecting their commitment to service and reliability.

Head of Performance for DRS, Norman Egglestone, said:

DRS has just been awarded another well-earned Golden Whistle for, once again, ensuring our customers’ services arrived on time. In the last year we have seen over 90% of all DRS’ commercial freight services achieve this target… Meaning DRS rightly remains ‘The Best Performing Rail Freight Operator’.

This award would not be possible without the reliability of our rolling stock, the commitment and professionalism of our drivers, ground staff and those involved in the planning and co-ordination of our services.

Published 29 January 2019