Pedal & Post is trialing the first medical deliveries to be sent quickly, securely and efficiently using high speed passenger trains between Oxford and London at 125mph! using zero emission cargo bikes to deliver door-to-door

We at Pedal & Post are pretty excited by this project and the concept, moving freight using the train network to us just makes sense and is something we've wanted to work on for a while so i'm very happy to announce its gone live in Oxford and put our theory's to the test. The current solution to move freight for this client is to use motorbikes and vans to complete the route to London twice a day but this adds to our air pollution, congestion and parking issues and if your test results had been delayed due to congestion or parking issues, you'd be a bit annoyed and frustrated, right? 

Pedal & Post collects medical samples from clinics across Oxford or the first mile of the samples journey by cargo bike, we can park right at the door and skip past congestion by filtering in the cycle lanes. We then place them onto the GWR trains to connect Oxford to London in 52 minutes in a secure compartment. Its then unloaded by WEGO couriers in London who complete the last mile to the laboratory by cargo bike too. 

An innovative delivery solution providing a much faster, cost effective and environmentally friendly way to move freight between cities. This whole process means we can deliver same day, door-to-door in less than 2-3 hours. Jeff Screaton from InterCity RailFreight commented: "This is part of the expansion in medical consignments using rail services in order to reduce the cycle time between drawing samples, diagnosis and treatment." 

This concept not only improves the service for patients is also reduces freight congestion on our motorways and health damaging pollutants in our environment. 

You see many cycle logistics teams in Europe who've done this for years now to connect cities together by train and connect cycle logistics teams into a national network and we'd aspire to create a system like this for the UK as we think it could be doable, a same day, zero emission door-to-door service, its a big ambition but certainly is achievable

Specifically in Oxford though, there's room for huge improvement, although the trains are operating anyway so the addition of our freight adds no emissions, the electrification of the line has been differed and delayed and would vastly reduce emissions further in Oxford as a whole which would be a fantastic move forward. I'd encourage people reading this to email your MP and see if this can be brought forward with a sense of urgency. Can you imagine how much better the city would be without diesel trains surging through its heart each day? from articles we can find it seems the estimated date is 2024 but some are questioning if it will ever happen at all. Oxford is setting itself up as the leader in moving to zero emissions so we hope the upgrade to the rail is a success at some point, reducing air pollution, encouraging people out of their cars and enterprises like ours can rapidly expand and innovate improving services for patients

Pedal & Post has some fantastic partners to make this project happen with InterCity RailFreight and WEGO couriers to bring this delivery solution to life so do have a look into both of these companies operating across the UK 

If you are interested in finding out more about our direct to london service, please call 01865 791866 or email info@pedalandpost.co.uk