Quinn Glass starts work on rail link in Helsby

Nov 17 2011 by Rachel Flint, Chester Chronicle

Quinn Glass starts work on rail link in Helsby

WORK has started on a multi-million-pound project to create a rail line to directly transport thousands of tonnes of sand and limestone to Quinn Glass.

After landing a milestone wine contract to bottle Australian wine Jacob’s Creek in July, work has begun on a new rail line to Quinn Glass in Elton.

The rail connection, costing the developers more than £2m, will be completed by the end of June 2012, allowing the company to take truck loads of glass, sand and limestone off Cheshire’s roads.

The track, running from Helsby, was originally meant to have been up and running by September but was delayed after a badger sett was found on the proposed site.

Quinn, which is part of Europe’s largest glass manufacturer, making 1.4bn bottles per annum, has confirmed workers have cleared the vegetation from the site and work is due to start on constructing the track.

A spokesman for Quinn Glass said: “We have committed to a 10-year freight transport contract with Freightliner to transport three trains of sand per week from Kings Lynn in Norfolk.

“This is temporarily going to Ellesmere Port until such time as the train can come direct to site. This demonstrates our long-term commitment to rail freight for the Elton site.”

In April the future of the Elton factory appeared uncertain after the Quinn Group was taken over from the control of Ireland’s richest man Sean Quinn who had racked up £2.5bn in personal debts.

But after winning a five-year contract bottling Jacob’s Creek the company has secured the jobs of 720 local workers.