RMS Locotec
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox company
|name =
|logo =
|predecessor =
|successor =
|foundation = April 1992
|founder = John Hummel
|defunct =
|location_city = Wolsingham
|location_country = England
|area_served = United Kingdom
|key_people =
|industry = Railways
|services = Rolling stock hire
|owner =
|num_employees =
|homepage = [https://rmslocotec.com/ www.rmslocotec.com]}}
RMS Locotec is a railway company based in Wolsingham, England. It has specialised in industrial railway management, infrastructure maintenance, and rolling stock leasing; one major customer was its former sister company and rail freight operator DCRail.
RMS Locotec was founded in April 1992, initially operating second-hand 0-4-0 and Class 08 0-6-0 shunter locomotives. During 2008, it was purchased by British American Railway Services. Throughout much of the 2010s, RMS Locotec leased six Class 31 and six Class 56 locomotives to DCRail. In June 2020, RMS Locotec was sold to the consortium Proviso Holdings.
History
RMS Locotec was established by John Hummel in April 1992. It was initially based in Dewsbury and operated a handful of second-hand 0-4-0 and Class 08 0-6-0 shunter locomotives. RMS Locotec secured its first contract with the British cement production firm Blue Circle Industries, further work was also won from Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and the oil company Mobil.{{cite magazine |title = RMS: Reviving Yorkshire's locomotive industry |magazine = Rail |issue = 270 |date = 17 January 1996 |pages = 67–70}}{{cite magazine |title = A decade of RMS |magazine = Rail |issue = 466 |date = 23 July 2003 |page = 9}} During 2008, the business was purchased, along with several other British railway concerns, by British American Railway Services (BARS), a subsidiary of the American railway company Iowa Pacific Holdings (IPH).{{cite magazine |title = US company buys Weardale and Dartmoor lines from ECT |magazine = Rail |issue = 601 |date = 24 September 2008 |page = 70}}
RMS Locotec has been involved in track maintenance work, such as on behalf of the Manx Electric Railway; these activities include design, procurement, installation, repair, inspection, and technical consultancy.{{cite web |url = https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/track-renewals-for-mer/ |title = Track renewals for MER |publisher = manxradio.com |date = 7 November 2007}}{{cite web |url = https://rmslocotec.com/track-work |title = Track Work |publisher = rmslocotec.com |access-date = 24 July 2022}} It is also involved in the short-term and long-term leasing of rolling stock, including the provision of technical support for its operation.{{cite web |url = https://rmslocotec.com/hire |title = Our Hire Fleet |publisher = rmslocotec.com |access-date = 24 July 2022}} Several Class 08s owned by RMS Locotec have been leased to various depots across the British Isles for the shunting of rolling stock, often performing hundreds of such operations in a single night.{{cite magazine |url = https://www.railmagazine.com/trains/current-trains/while-we-are-sleeping |title = While we are sleeping… |publisher = railmagazine.com |first = Richard |last = Clinnick |date = 28 November 2013}}{{cite web |url = https://rmslocotec.com/news/08-moves-to-wolverton-works |title = 08 moves to Wolverton Works |publisher = rmslocotec.com |access-date = 24 July 2022}}
Throughout much of the 2010s, RMS Locotec leased 12 diesel locomotives, comprising six Class 31 (31190, 31452, 31454, 31468, 31601, and 31602) and six Class 56 (56091, 56103, 56128, 56303, 56311, and 56312), to sister company and rail freight operator DCRail. During January 2018, it announced that it was putting all of these locomotives up for sale, reportedly as a consequence of the pending closure of Washwood Heath depot to make room for High Speed 2 construction works.{{cite magazine |title = DC Rail Sale |magazine = Railways Illustrated |issue = 179 |date = January 2018 |page = 16}}{{cite web |url = https://www.railwaymagazine.co.uk/4201/devon-cornwall-puts-12-loco-fleet-up-for-sale/ |title = Devon & Cornwall puts 12-loco fleet up for sale |publisher = railwaymagazine.co.uk |first = Sam |last = Hewett |date = 29 December 2017}} During the sales process, both 56091 and 56103 were obtained by DCRail to facility its continued operations, while the remainder of RMS Locotec's Class 56s were sold to the spot-hire company UK Rail Leasing.{{cite magazine |url = https://www.magzter.com/stories/Travel/Rail-Express/BARS-Locomotive-Fleet-Broken-Up |title = BARS locomotive fleet broken up |magazine = Rail Express |issue = 260 |date = January 2018 |first = Simon |last = Bendall |page = 13}} Other locomotives were also sold to other organisations, including heritage railways.{{cite magazine |url = https://www.scribd.com/article/393019097/Rms-Locotec-Sells-Goyle-For-Preservation-At-Evr |title = RMS Locotec sells Goyle for Preservation at EVR |magazine = Rail Express |date = 14 May 2018}}
Shortly following BARS entering into administration, various subsidiaries of the company were put up for sale, including RMS Locotec.{{cite magazine |title = Two heritage railways are on the market |magazine = Heritage Railway |issue = 263 |date = January 2020 |page = 6}}{{cite magazine |url = https://www.modernrailways.com/article/weardale-enters-new-ownership |title = Weardale enters new ownership |magazine = modernrailways.com |date = 23 April 2020}} During June 2020, a deal was reached for its sale to the consortium Proviso Holdings, which also operated Eastern Rail Services, along with 20 Class 08 locomotives;{{cite magazine |title = News Round-Up |magazine = Rail Express |issue = 291 |date = August 2020 |page = 40}}{{cite magazine |title = RMS Locotec sold to Proviso Holdings |magazine = Railways Illustrated |date = September 2020 |page = 8}} the move was hauled as bolstering RMS Locotec's core shunter hire business.{{cite magazine |url = https://www.pressreader.com/uk/rail-uk/20200715/page/29 |title = Takeover of RMS Locotec boosts company's shunter hire business |date = 15 July 2020 |publisher = Rail Magazine |page = 29}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category-inline|Trains of RMS Locotec}}
{{British railway spot-hire companies|state=collapsed}}