Memorandum by Freightliner Group (REN
01)
RAIL SERVICES IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Freightliner Group is the competitive
force in British rail freight. Our intermodal division, Freightliner
Ltd, carries intercontinental containers between the major container
ports in Southern England and our logistics centres in Northern
England and Scotland. We carry around 600,000 containers a year
at present, of which some 60% pass through the terminals we serve
in Liverpool, Manchester, Yorkshire and Teesside.
1.2 Freightliner Heavy Haul is our new entrant
in the rail bulk market, and has already carried some four million
tonnes of coal to power stations in Northern England; it operates
cement, petroleum products and car trains in the North, and provides
substantial resources for Railtrack's infrastructure maintenance
and renewal operations.
1.3 Freightliner makes a substantial contribution
to the economic life of Northern England, as well as providing
the environmental gains which come from rail transport.
2. INVESTMENT
IN THE
NETWORK
Our ability to provide efficient services for
our customers is dependent both upon our assets and the condition
and capacity of the rail network. We have procured the investment
of significant sums of money in locomotives, wagons and terminal
facilities; we have replaced almost all of our life-expired diesel
locomotives and have bought more than 250 modern wagons for coal
traffic. We have erected new cranes at our Manchester terminal,
and are developing the capacity of our Leeds terminal. We require
similar investment to be made in the network. Our ability to increase
the number of trains we run to and from the North of England is
constrained by bottlenecks on the key main lines, many of them
in locations outside the geographical region itself. The Strategic
Rail Authority's Freight Strategy addresses many of the
most important issues, but it is now essential to have some action
to fulfil the good intentions. In particular, the provision of
higher-gauge routes for the increasing volume of 9' 6" intercontinental
containers and the capacity issues on the West Coast Main Line
must be priorities. The total number of intercontinental containers
entering the UK is increasing steadily, and the rail network must
be updated to accommodate extra traffic if it is not all to pass
by road.
3. ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Efficient and effective freight transport systems
are essential for a sound economy, and a sound economy is essential
if there is to be social development. Rail freight has a vital
part to play in providing efficient and effective transport in
a way which has considerable environmental advantages, and we
believe that the Committee should ensure that it takes this into
account in its deliberations. The social benefit of taking large
tonnages of freight off the congested road network has a value
which must be weighed with the values attached to increasing personal
and social mobility, and we believe that that value should not
be understated.
4. PROVISION
OF FURTHER
INFORMATION
It seems to us that the terms of reference for
the Committee's inquiry are extremely widely drawn; we will be
pleased to provide any further information which may be needed.
15 May 2002
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