Tesco is Leveraging the Power of Railways for Supply Chain Resiliency

To help combat the ongoing supply chain issues from the pandemic, Tesco has turned to the UK’s railway network.

Launched at Christmas, the new rail service between Tilbury in Essex and Coatbridge in Scotland was deployed to make sure essential foods got where they needed at a busy time of year and to improve the resiliency of the supermarket giant’s supply chain moving forwards.

Tesco has in fact been using the railways in this manner since 2008, but this new endeavour marks the first time one of its trains has consisted entirely of refrigerated containers.

“It marks a new confidence in the railway,” said MD of service operator Direct Rail Services (DRS), Chris Connelly. “It’s one thing bringing ambient goods onto the railway which aren’t going to off if there’s a problem. This is really time-sensitive stuff.”

Using the railways to deliver groceries in this manner offers dual benefits for Tesco. Not only does it strengthen the supermarket’s supply chain network, but it also serves to remove hundreds of trucks from the UK roads and significantly improve the company’s climate change fighting credentials.

To uncover the latest trends and insights in ProcureCon, download our latest Playbook.