Select Committee on Crossrail Bill Minutes of Evidence


Examination of Witnesses (Questions 14460 - 14479)

  14460. How important is Paddington in the context of maintaining supplies within central London?

   (Mr Cole): Very, very important.

  14461. What sort of tonnage are we talking about in terms of concrete out of there, please?

   (Mr Cole): Paddington will produce in the region of 60,000 cubic metres of concrete per year.

  14462. Moving to aggregates and deliveries by rail and water, Mr Elvin tells us there is no issue about these matters. In terms of the stance that Tarmac has taken about their importance, is there any distinction between your view and the Government policy view about these matters?

   (Mr Cole): There is not.

  14463. The Committee has been told, I think by Ms Lieven at an earlier stage, what the London Plan says in policy terms about aggregates, suitable plant and the like. You have a record of the London Plan policies there already before you. You indicated in relation to Paddington that it was important. In terms of market share, how much of the market share for ready-mixed concrete does Paddington have, please, in that two mile radius area?

   (Mr Cole): We believe that we supply 60% of the market in that area, from our Paddington depot.

  14464. So that is within the circle on the diagram?

   (Mr Cole): It is, yes.

  14465. Clearly it is very satisfactory to have the plant there. What view do you take about the possibility of not being able to maintain rail access to it, not because the actual plant site is threatened because we are resolving those difficulties, but because of difficulties about capacity on the rail network and getting trains into it?

   (Mr Cole): The continued availability of adequate rail train capacity to provide supplies of aggregate is of vital importance to Tarmac's business, and the sustainable supply of construction materials to the market.

  14466. What about substituting road for rail here?

   (Mr Cole): Our evidence would show that road materials cannot keep up with the supply of materials for our product.

  14467. You have some concerns as a company about the Timetable Working Group. Mr Garratt is going to deal with those and we will not ask you to repeat these matters. Let's have a conclusion from you, please, Mr Cole, in terms of the practicalities here, the realities of the position with regard to, from the company's perspective at the moment, the need to maintain adequate rail capacity. How would you put that to the Committee, please, as to its importance?

   (Mr Cole): Well, our concerns are that the practicalities need to be resolved. What we are trying to do is run a business which relies totally on aggregates being delivered by rail in order we can supply concrete to our customers in the London market.

  14468. And in that respect, the company's interest and the public interest, do they coincide?

   (Mr Cole): They do indeed, yes.

  14469. Mr Kingston: Thank you very much indeed, Mr Cole.

  14470. Mr Elvin: It will not surprise the Committee to hear that I do not have any questions.

  The witness withdrew

  Mr Mike Garratt, sworn

  Examined by Mr Kingston

  14471. Mr Garratt, I am going to introduce you to the Committee. You are Michael Garratt; is that right?

   (Mr Garratt) That is correct.

  14472. You are formally qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport. You have a BA Hons degree in Economics, a Masters degree in Transport Design and you are the Managing Director of MDS Transmodal, which is a transport consultancy specialising in the freight industry. Is that correct?

   (Mr Garratt) That is correct.

  14473. You have been a consultant and lecturer in the field of freight for some 20 years.

   (Mr Garratt) Yes.

  14474. Your company I think has been responsible for the preparation of rail freight forecasts for both the Freight Transport Association and the Rail Freight Group. Is that right?

   (Mr Garratt) Correct.

  14475. And you utilise something which is called the GB freight model. Is that correct?

   (Mr Garratt) That is correct.

  14476. In July 2005 the Secretary of State, and I think at the time it was Mr Darling, asked that the industry should make forecasts with regard to rail freight and asked that they should be robust. Is that correct?

   (Mr Garratt) That is correct.

  14477. As far as the GB freight model is concerned is that a model which is, as it were, forgive the expression, but of your invention and only audited by you or does it have some wider credibility and, if so, what?

   (Mr Garratt) It is about the development but has been validated by the DfT and is incorporated in the National Transport Model.

  14478. So when we are talking about material which has come from the GB freight model are we talking about material which for all practical purposes has been taken into other transport planning when looking particularly at freight issues?

   (Mr Garratt) That is correct.

  14479. To what extent therefore would you suggest that it is appropriate for the Committee to rely on that in looking at what the consequences might be in any particular situation pertaining to rail freight?

   (Mr Garratt) I believe it is appropriate in that it is the basis for the exercise that Lord Berkeley just described.


 
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