Peer review: Lord Tony Berkeley
Chairman, Rail Freight Group
Nick Gallop has unlocked a whole range of opportunities for freight by rail, ideas whose time has come because of changes in the demand for near instant delivery of goods. It is sad that coal and steel traffic by rail has so suddenly dropped through the floor, but perhaps these new opportunities will cause an industry-wide rethink of how these new business opportunities can be realised.
Nick is right that, along with these opportunities, there are problems. But then the industry must drop the ‘can’t do’ ways of so many in the ‘old’ railway, and adopt the can-do ways of the successful and ever-changing logistics industry - particularly those who are already delivering what the customer wants (today or sooner), and changing the means of doing this all the time.
However, ‘can’t do’ exists much more widely than in the rail sector. Some planning authorities are helpful, but others clearly see their ways of preventing change, even if this involves a small section of station platform and loading point to a road vehicle for the last mile or so. Easier to reject a greener and safer form of traffic, if that might mean that passengers might have to stand at a different part of a platform at certain times of day outside the rush hour.
How quickly can one unload a roll cage or equivalent off a train? Probably as quickly as many passengers get on and off, if the freight work is properly organised.
What about the road, perhaps electric or bike transport at either or both ends? This remains part of the logistics chain, and should be no more difficult to organise efficiently than truck/swap body/truck? It will need small depots in town or city centres - a problem due to high land values as well as planning, but soluble.
One of the most difficult parts of the chain will be the town or city centre transfer points. Some stations are so congested that the operator may fear the ORR taking them to task for allowing congestion - some lifts may need to be used for freight as well as passengers, but does this matter? Clearly it does for those who are mobility impaired, but others would have the option of sending their cases separately, as Nick suggests.
The new Hitachi IEPs could have fold-up (though comfortable) seats built in from the start, and there are plenty of older passenger trains, both diesel and electric, which could carry this higher value freight traffic when demand exceeds available space on passenger trains.
And when will rail catch up with the developments for road trains, trucks hooked together for the long haul and easily separable for the last mile or so? Rail should be leading here!
What is needed is to build on the encouragement given by our Rail Minister Claire Perry, and turn this into action. Positive policies from the DfT, and instructions to Network Rail and passenger operators to take freight seriously and integrate it with their passenger operations. Or encourage new operators, perhaps rail freight FOCs, to join in or operate open access passenger trains with freight capacity.
We must also recognise that it will all need more management time than the conventional railway. But given the high value of much of the cargo, growing road congestion and a can-do attitude, this might in a few years give the rail freight, parcels and small loads industry the kick-start to provide so many benefits to the community and profits to operators and others, as well as reducing congestion, air pollution et al in our cities.
