Few of us need telling that whisky is central to Scotland's exporting economy. What is less well known is that the rail industry has been playing a crucial role in the transport of whisky to foreign markets for more than 50 years.

One of the key positive outcomes of the otherwise infamous Beeching Report of 1963 was the development of a network of container terminals linked by fast, fixed-formation 'Freightliner' trains. Terminals in Glasgow, and later Coatbridge, became central to the whisky supply chain and in 2017 Coatbridge Freightliner still provides those crucial daily links to Britain's big four Deep Sea ports at Felixstowe, Southampton, London Gateway and Liverpool. Indeed, between 20 and 25 per cent of Scottish exports are carried on these trains.
(Permalink) David Spaven Freightliner Whisky