On the 5 January 2007, Freightliner ran the UK’s first train to use newly designed HXA wagons. Departing Immingham at 11.45 the 1,470 tonne, 21 wagon train arrived at Eggborough power station 13 minutes earlier than its booked arrival time of 1,600 hrs.
 
Built by Greenbrier in Poland, the wagon features a brand new design of track-friendly bogie and, despite being one metre shorter than its predecessor, can still carry the same volume of coal, increasing the payload per train by up to 10%.

It total, Freightliner has ordered 109 HXA wagons, enough to run five full sets. With eight brand new class 66 locos on order to supplement the Heavy Haul business, Freightliner Heavy Haul will increase its capacity for coal haulage by over 20% over the coming weeks.
 
Martin Wilks, Director Coal, Freightliner Heavy Haul, commented: “Having moved our 50 millionth tonne of coal in October, the arrival of the HXA is another significant milestone in the development of our business. The introduction of these wagons and the 5 locomotives which will haul them, represents an investment of nearly £17 million for the coal market. This boosts our capacity to over 500 wagons delivering around 400,000 tonnes of coal per week to the UK’s power stations.”