On Wednesday 8^th October, locomotive 90021 was named ‘Donald Malcolm’ in honour of the late Donald Malcolm, who inherited The Malcolm Group coal-round business from his late father. The Malcolm Group is a leading provider of Logistics, Construction and Maintenance services across the UK.  

This locomotive naming ceremony not only recognised the huge contribution to the transport and logistics industry from Donald Malcolm, evolving the business from a small family-run enterprise to what it is today but also solidified and celebrated the strong working relationship between Freightliner and The Malcolm Group. Freightliner and The Malcolm Group already have several dedicated trains running daily from Daventry up to both Grangemouth and Mossend – serving the central belt of Scotland – helping to remove HGVs from our busy road and motorway network as well as reduce carbon emissions when compared to road operations.

The locomotive naming ceremony took place at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT), a key hub for the logistics and transport industry, linking ‘the golden triangle’ with the rest of the country. Locomotive 90021 which was named, arrived as part of a newly launched Freightliner service from Felixstowe. This new service, operating out of the new Malcolm Group terminal, will run daily from Freightliner’s Felixstowe terminal.

Attendees at the event included key Freightliner customers that will be utilising this newly launched Felixstowe – Daventry service as well as Freightliner and The Malcolm Group colleagues.

Tim Shoveller, CEO at Freightliner Group, commented, “It was fantastic to be able to celebrate the naming of locomotive 90021 honouring the legacy of Donald Malcolm with colleagues from both Freightliner and The Malcolm Group in attendance. It was great to also celebrate the launch of our new Felixstowe – Daventry service at the same time – we are looking forward to working with our customers to transport their goods efficiently, safely and sustainably on this new route.”

Andrew Malcolm, CEO of The Malcolm Group, commented, “We are both delighted and honoured to be launching this new service, along with Freightliner, from DIRFT to Felixstowe and to be naming locomotive 90021 in memory of my late father Donald Malcolm.”

Maggie Simpson OBE, Director General of the Rail Freight Group, stated, “It is fantastic to see this locomotive named ‘Donald Malcolm’ today, recognising the long heritage of Malcolm Logistics in freight transport.  As pioneers of rail freight from Daventry, Malcolm Logistics have transformed retail and logistics supply chains, and this new facility at DIRFT 3 will help them to continue that journey, helping more businesses to use rail freight.”