APPENDIX 35
Memorandum submitted by English Welsh
& Scottish Railway
1. INTRODUCTION
EWS is the UK's leading rail freight operator:
— EWS operates freight trains throughout
the UK rail network and also provides direct access to freight
markets in continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel. Each week,
EWS operates over 8,000 trains each week, conveying a wide variety
of bulk commodities and high value goods in quantities from a
single wagonload to an entire train. Typical consignments moved
through Greater London include domestic waste (both for land-fill
and recycling), steel (including scrap for re-melting and finished
products such as coil and structural steelwork), construction
materials (ranging from crushed rock, sand and cement to building
blocks) and automotive products (car components and assembled
cars).
— A national employer, with over 5,200
staff based across Britain and its own depots and workshops, EWS
also provides engineering support and hire services to other parts
of the railway industry. Since its establishment in February 2006,
EWS has invested over £500 million in its operations, and
now hauls over 100 million tonnes of fright per year. This commitment
to the future has played a major role in increasing the amount
of rail freight moved over the rail network by over 50% over the
last ten years. This growth has out-paced that of road haulage
so that rail's share of the UK surface freight market has also
grown and now exceeds 11%. EWS continues to expand its activities
and is actively planning to open new railheads at a number of
sites in the London area.
Specific EWS activities in and around east London:
— The railway network in the Stratford
area is of major strategic importance, both to EWS itself and
to industry across the UK. Not only is Stratford a railway crossroads
but it is also the location of a busy terminal that handles freight
in bulk, which supplies the needs of industry, and the community
in east London. The impact of the 2012 Olympic Games on the area's
railway network is therefore of vital significance to EWS and
its customers.
— A series of closely-spaced junctions
link the North London Line (NLL) with the Great Eastern mainline
(GEML), the West Anglian mainline (WAML), the Tottenham and Hampstead
line (T&H) and the London and Tilbury (LTS) lines. The NLL
is the main east—west route linking East Anglia and North
Thames-side with the rest of the railway network to the west,
south and north-west of London and beyond. The GEML is the artery
that serves East Anglia. The WAML gives access to railheads along
the Lea Valley and beyond. The LTS line gives access to railheads
along the north bank of the River Thames.
— Typically, over forty freight trains
use the NLL in each direction per day. The line is electrified
and has structural clearances that permit "high-cube"
containers to pass, making it the only route suitable for these
deep-sea containers travelling between major UK industrial regions
and Felixstowe, the UK's busiest intermodal port. Containers also
move by rail along the NLL to and from the port of Tilbury—and
the forthcoming deep-sea container port at Thameshaven will generate
similar rail freight traffic.
— The NLL also conveys bulk construction
materials between quarries and wharves to the south and west of
London and terminals along Thames-side and in East Anglia. The
line also serves customers in the automotive industry by conveying
car components from south Wales to Dagenham and from Dagenham
direct by through train via the Channel Tunnel to Spain. New cars
imported through Dagenham and exported through Purfleet also move
by train along the NLL. Forest products such as newsprint are
imported through Tilbury and reaches end-users via the NLL.
— Facilities at Bow—linked to
these routes—provide the only available railhead in the
East End for receiving bulk materials such as sand, crushed rock
and blocks to supply the construction industry's needs in the
area. The same site is also used to store, grade and process these
materials to meet the specialised needs of individual customers.
— To the north of the Olympic site
is the EWS Temple Mills locomotive depot, which supports our activities
in East Anglia. Connections in the Stratford area allow the necessary
access to the GEML, NLL, LTS and other lines.
EWS support for the 2012 Olympic Games
EWS welcomes London's success with its bid to
host the 2012 Olympic Games. The provision of the Olympic facilities
will require large quantities of (i) rubble and other materials
to be taken away from the site as part of its clearance, and then
(ii) the movement towards the site of building materials such
as sand, cement and crushed rock.
As the UK's leading rail haulier of these materials,
EWS already helps to meet the needs of the construction industry
in this part of London by serving the rail freight terminal at
Bow which is located close to the heart of the main Olympic site.
EWS and its customers at Bow are well placed to fulfil demand
from the Olympic Games. The use of rail means that the flows of
materials will impose minimal additional traffic on area's roads
that are already congested.
2. INVOLVEMENT
SO FAR
OF EWS IN
PLANNING FOR
THE 2012 OLYMPIC
GAMES:
EWS has been actively involved in the planning
of transport provision for the 2012 Olympic Games since December
2003. Working in close co-operation with other rail freight operators
and the Rail Freight Group, EWS participated in detailed discussions
with the Strategic Rail Authority and the Joint Planning Authorities
Team (JPAT).
Reports were commissioned from specialist consultants
into various aspects of rail transport including the capacity
of the rail network to handle visitors to the Olympic venue and
the extent of the land-take of the Olympic facilities at the railheads
at Bow. EWS also understands that informed advice was sought on
security matters where they concerned the operating railway in
the vicinity of the Olympic venue.
As a result of these discussions and the findings
and recommendations of the consultants, it was possible for JPAT
(and other parties involved with the preparation of London's bid)
to satisfy EWS that its existing business with its customers would
not be adversely affected and that the railhead at Bow would be
able to handle spoil and construction materials for the Olympic
Games. EWS is keen that the Olympic Delivery Authority stands
by these agreements and that both parties can work together to
ensure that the Olympic Transport Plan allows rail to play its
full part in the construction of the Games' facilities while still
handling its non-Olympic business.
3. ISSUES OF
CONCERN TO
EWS:
During 2004, EWS took part in discussions with
JPAT and its consultants. For EWS, the priorities were—and
remain—to ensure that
— contractual commitments to operate
trains for EWS customers would be maintained and that these operations
would suffer as little disruption as possible
— existing business activity at the
Bow Midland railhead would be maintained with as little disruption
as possible
— EWS customers would be able to move
materials efficiently and competitively to and from the sites
of the Olympic venues as part of the processes of site clearance
and facility construction
The discussions between the JPAT and EWS during
2004 highlighted three principle areas of concern. These are:
— security measures. EWS readily accepts
the need for the Olympic site to be secure so that the safety
of guests, the public, competitors and officials is assured over
the duration of the Games. However, the site is crossed by operating
railway lines that form vital and irreplaceable links in the railway
network. During discussions with the JPAT, it was suggested that
one stretch of line, the High Meads loop, would have to be closed
completely for the duration of the Games. This was then and still
remains unacceptable to EWS since this line is used by over 30
freight trains a day and there is no realistic alternative route.
Finally, an undertaking was given by the promoters to EWS and
other rail freight operators as represented by the Rail Freight
Group, our trade association, that no such closure would take
place of this line. EWS would not wish this assurance to be broken.
— movement of passengers. EWS recognises
the role that the railway network in and around Stratford will
play in moving the public to and from the various Olympic venues.
EWS played a full part in the detailed analysis of the options
available to handle these traffic flows. Our concerns centre on
the NLL, which is a vital route for the movement of freight, as,
outlined above. Capacity on this line is finite and the route
is generally operated close to its capacity. The thorough analysis
of the scope offered by this route and others demonstrated that
it would be possible for the movement of passengers to be spread
across several routes including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
It was demonstrated that the NLL could handle its share of the
Olympic passenger traffic and continue to handle freight trains
as well. EWS would not wish any reduction to be made in freight
capacity on this route.
— land-take. EWS appreciates that a
substantial area of land is required for the Olympic facilities.
During discussions with the promoters it emerged that the EWS
railheads at Bow would be taken over and subsumed by the developments.
EWS opposed this because there are no suitable alternative railheads
available—either at short notice or in the form of sites
on which they could be built. Agreement was subsequently reached
that the Bow East site would be taken over by the promoters and
its activities transferred to an enlarged Bow West site. The negotiations
had the full involvement of the EWS customers and they are party
to the agreement. The retention and expansion of the Bow West
site is in the interests of the Olympic Games since the railhead
will play a key role in (i) the removal of spoil and rubble from
the Olympic site for recycling and (ii) the supply of materials
for the construction of the facilities—all with minimal
impact on the road network in the Stratford area.
4. CROSSRAIL
EWS would like to draw the attention of the
Committee to the widely differing standard of consultation with
the railway industry by the Olympic team and the promoters of
Crossrail. The Olympic consultation has been open and should generate
a mutually acceptable solution. In contrast, the Crossrail proposals
(which affect the same geographical area and the same freight
traffic) are wholly unacceptable. Both the construction and operational
phase will disrupt severely our ability to operate existing freight
trains let alone accommodate rail freight growth. In addition
the Crossrail Bill proposes to occupy key rail freight terminals
and to change the fundamental basis of the way in which the railway
is regulated.
5. CONCLUSION
EWS is well-placed to play its part towards
making the 2012 Olympic Games a success by moving spoil away from
the site and building materials into it as part of the construction
of the facilities, using the existing rail freight terminal at
Bow, close to the heart of the Olympic venue.
As well as ensuring that rail is able to maximise
its share of these traffic flows, EWS has two other priorities:
(i) the movement of through freight across the railway network
in the Stratford area on behalf of its existing customers, and
(ii) the movement of existing flows of construction materials
to the railhead at Bow to meet current contractual commitments.
EWS has worked closely with the Joint Planning
Authorities Team and its consultants to ensure that all three
of these priorities can be met. This process has raised some areas
of concern on the part of EWS, including: (i) the threat to its
operations caused by the proposed closure of stretches of running
line for security purposes, (ii) the possible loss of track capacity
for freight trains caused by the running of additional passenger
trains to cater for spectators and (iii) the possible loss of
the railhead facilities at Bow through the land being used for
Olympic facilities.
Through close dialogue with the JPAT and the
commissioning of reports from consultants, EWS has been able to
receive assurances that its concerns will be addressed and that
its operations will not be adversely affected. EWS wishes to build
on this pro-active process to ensure that these understandings
are put into the Olympic Transport Plan by the Olympic Delivery
Authority and turned into practice. This will allow rail freight
to do its best for both the 2012 Olympic Games and its customers.
7 September 2005
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