Direct Rail Services’ (DRS) open day at Kingmoor raises over £65k

Direct Rail Services’ (DRS) open day, July 6, saw over 1,500 people gather for a family fun day at the Kingmoor rail depot.

Direct Rail Services (DRS) is a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which is charged with decommissioning redundant nuclear power stations and managing radioactive waste.

DRS is the Nuclear Transport Solutions’ (NTS) rail division.

The Border Concert Band attend rail open day (Image: NTS)

On the day, attendees had plenty of activities to engage in, like sitting in a real locomotive cab, observing working engines up close, participating in a nameplate auction, and many more exciting activities designed for kids.

The event was also an occasion for two locomotive namings.

Family takes the chance to sit in the cab. (Image: NTS)

The first saw “Charlie Birse” unveiled on Class 66 locomotive 66429. Charlie worked as an Engineering Team Leader and TSSA union representative, dedicating 23 years of his life to DRS until his sad death last year.

Charlie’s family attended the event and were presented with a commemorative nameplate in his honour.

The second naming was for locomotive 66431 “Kingmoor TMD” which was unveiled by Gottfried Eymer, NTS Managing Director for Rail; and David Peattie, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority CEO.

“It was such a great day for all of our guests, it’s a rare opportunity to show people how a rail depot works and get up close to the fantastic locomotives we have," Gottfried said. 

“We’re really proud of the work we do and to be able to share that with so many enthusiastic people was fantastic to see.

“I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along and all of our staff volunteers for making the event such a special day." 

One group however, Radiation Free Lakeland, took to the event's gates to draw attention to concerns over the ongoing arrival of nuclear waste in Cumbria, particularly via some rail routes that have seen recent derailments, such as at Grange over Sands.

Kingmoor depot locomotives (Image: NTS)

As part of the campaign, they brought along a banner featuring 'Thomas the Stank Engine' - which looks like a sinister version of the famed locomotive of children's literature character. 

DRS has previously stated that nuclear materials have been safely transported by rail since 1962 without any radiological release incidents.