14 DAY TRIAL // Whiskey makers in Scotland are now looking into the possibility of greening up their working agenda and improving on their ecological footprint by switching from transporting their products by car to transporting them by rail.
Specifically, companies such as Chivas Brothers, Diageo John Dewar & Sons, Whyte & Mackay and Glen Turner have announced plans to ditch lorries and replace them with trains, Business Green tells us.
According to the same source, whiskey producers in and near Elgin in Speyside, Scotland are now trialing this new method of transporting bottles.
Thus, with support from the government, they are sending their merchandise from Elgin to Grangemouth by rail.
Their goal is to determine whether or not this manner of transporting whiskey is feasible on the long run, from both a financial and an environmental standpoint. The project is dubbed “Lifting the Spirit.”
Should ongoing tests prove that it is indeed worthwhile to transport goods by rails rather than by road, products other than whiskey could soon also be sent to their final destination by train.
“The Scottish Government is keen to see more goods moved by rail or water, where this is commercially viable, to ease traffic congestion and help the environment.”
“I welcome this project and look forward to seeing its results,” said the current Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead.