Ibstock has received EPD verification (Environmental Product Declaration) for its' C1 Anderlite range of cable management troughing products used on the Rail Network to house signalling and power cables.

The EPD provides rail sector decision makers with the data they need to make more informed choices about the products they specify. Ibstock's rail troughing EPD provides the industry with verification of the manufacturer’s commitment to sustainability. As a business, Ibstock continues to strive to achieve further reductions to the embodied carbon within its suite of concrete products that it supplies to the Rail and other industries.

Neil Cross, Ibstock’s National Sales Manager, says that the EPD certification helps dispel a myth about concrete products. He commented: “It is widely perceived that concrete –is not sustainable and therefore not carbon friendly at all. By having EPD verification, we are able to demonstrate the sustainable credentials of our troughing and hopefully change perceptions around concrete as an environmentally-concious building material.

“An EPD is an independently verified assessment and we now have proof that our troughs and lids contain significantly lower amounts of carbon in comparison to other EPD verified troughing systems available."

Neil commented: “Network Rail has set out its own very ambitious carbon reduction targets, and looks to suppliers to collectively help them reach carbon net zero targets by 2050. By continually working to reduced the Carbon in the products we produce in the UK, coupled with our wider sustainability goals, as set out in Ibstock's ESG Strategy, we feel we are making a significant contribution."

In recent months, several line-side fires have been reported across the country. Causing delays and disruption to train services and incurring huge cost. In some cases the cabling housed in the troughing has caught fire and spread up the troughing route, damaging the trough route and on occasion casing the trough route to burn as well, incurring further cost to replace.

Due the the fire resistant properties of Ibstocks’ Anderlite range, our troughing can be used for all applications including use in tunnels and stations due to its fire resistant properties, giving confidence that the troughing will remain intact.